i>r  V  fiF  r*? 


m 


6a 


Oct  ?n  1921 


BV  4241  .W3  i 

Watkinson,  W.  L.  1838-1925| 
The  shepherd  of  the  sea,  aj 
other  sermons 


The  Shepherd  of  the  Sea 


By 
W.  L.  Watkinson,  D.D. 

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The  Shepherd  of  the  Sea 

AND  OTHER  SERMONS 


W.  L.  WATKINSON,  D.D. 


With  Introduction  by 
S.  PARKES  CADMAN,  D.D. 


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Introduction 

IT  is  an  honor  to  be  permitted  to  write  a  brief  fore- 
word to  these  remarkable  sermons  by  the  Rever- 
end Dr.  William  Lonsdale  Watkinson.  This 
greatest  of  the  surviving  preachers  of  the  Victorian  pe- 
riod needs  no  introduction  in  any  English-speaking 
land.  His  well-known  volumes  are  to  be  found  on 
thousands  of  bookshelves  throughout  the  Empire  and 
the  Republic,  and  every  clergyman  who  is  fortunate 
enough  to  possess  them  can  take  full  toll  of  the  Gospel 
from  their  richly-stored  pages. 

The  last  of  the  series,  which  we  devoutly  hope  may 
not  be  the  final  book  Dr.  Watkinson  will  give  to  the 
Church,  is  in  every  respect  equal  to  those  which  have 
preceded  it.  This  is  high  praise,  for  the  author's  pen 
has  been  prolific  and,  in  its  influence  for  good,  blessed 
far  beyond  the  ordinary.  While  many  celebrated 
preachers  have  stood  aloof  from  the  realm  of  con- 
temporary scientific  knowledge,  and  contented  them- 
selves with  casual  references  to  its  amazing  develop- 
ments. Dr.  Watkinson  has  entered  that  realm  in 
behalf  of  those  evangelical  doctrines  of  which  he  is  a 
masterly  exponent.  The  arguments  of  agnostics  and 
of  skeptical  thinkers  who  are  afflicted  by  specters  of 
the  mind  are  skilfully  employed  to  vindicate  and  en- 
force the  fundamental  realities  of  revelation. 

In  these  homilies  one  discovers  a  delightful  origi- 
nality which  is  reminiscent  of  Henry  Ward  Beecher 

5 


6  INTKODUCTION 

in  his  prime,  and  of  the  catholic  intelligence  of  Horace 
Bushnell.  Their  titles  support  my  statement ;  they  are 
treatises  in  brief,  and  suggest  the  strength  and  appo- 
siteness  of  the  subject  matter.  The  Shepherd  of  the 
Seas,  The  Magic  of  Grace,  The  Conquest  of  Invidious 
Circumstance,  and  The  Table  Lands  of  the  Perfected 
Life,  indicate  that  the  reader  approaches  nothing  trite 
or  hackneyed  in  such  sacred  discourse.  It  is  a  first- 
class  example  of  loyalty  to  the  New  Testament  pro- 
gramme of  life,  combined  with  keen  appreciation  of 
whatever  the  humanities  have  to  offer  the  Christian 
preacher. 

The  style  is  the  man,  nothing  more  nor  less,  and 
characteristic  of  his  fecundity  of  thought  and  cultured 
appreciation  of  the  capital  intimations  of  other  leading 
intellects  of  the  age.  Dr.  Watkinson  is  emphatically 
modern,  but  also  balanced  in  his  modernity:  keenly 
aware  that  wisdom  was  not  born  with  our  generation, 
and  that  it  will  survive  us.  Sentences  which  leave 
music  in  the  ear,  and  emotion  in  the  memory,  abound 
in  The  Shepherd  of  the  Sea.  They  are  an  effectual 
protest  against  the  colloquial  manner  of  speech  which 
has  been  popularized  by  too  many  speakers  and  writers 
upon  religious  questions. 

The  affectation  of  the  laboratory  style,  concise  to 
bareness,  and  contemptuous  of  ornament,  is  discarded 
for  a  closely  woven  yet  colorful  rhetoric  in  which  there 
is  descriptive  excellency,  but  nothing  ornate  or  super- 
fluous. Painfully  familiar  quotations  have  no  place 
here;  the  confessional  moments  of  famous  men  and 
women  are  duly  noted;  the  religious  consequences  of 
their  concessions  are  set  down.    Above  all  else,  these 


INTKODUCTION  7 

sermons  are  to  be  valued  for  their  fidelity  to  divine 
truth.  The  author  deciphers  the  mysterious  hiero- 
glyphics of  the  human  heart,  he  unveils  its  incipient 
tendencies  toward  its  Maker,  and  the  struggles  which 
these  tendencies  wage  with  its  vanities  and  corruptions. 

Although  Dr.  Watkinson  has  passed  fourscore  years 
he  yields  nothing  to  pessimism.  His  survey  of  the 
centuries  leaves  him  aflame  with  expectancy.  The 
Kingdom  of  God  is  being  built;  steadily  and  perma- 
nently constructed,  and  will  stand  massively  when 
much  else  upon  which  men  lavish  their  labors  is  in 
ruins.  His  unusually  large  experience  leaves  our  dear 
and  venerable  teacher  and  guide  confirmed  in  the 
Christian  Faith,  in  all  it  presupposes,  and  all  it  under- 
takes to  accomplish.  The  minister  who  has  to  enter  his 
pulpit  beneath  the  clouds  of  doubt  and  fear  should  read 
The  Shepherd  of  the  Sea,  and  after  it  has  borne  its 
testimony,  let  him  reflect  upon  the  man  who  wrote  it, 
and  what  he  represents  and  embodies  for  our  holy 
vocation.  Surely  we  have  nothing  to  gain  by  tem- 
porizing where  eternal  and  redeeming  verities  are  at 
stake ! 

Renewed  zeal,  courage  and  discretion  are  our  chief 
necessities  just  now,  and  probably  they  point  the  moral 
of  the  history  of  preaching  from  its  beginning.  These 
virtues  are  displayed  here  in  manifold  and  contagious 
ways,  and  he  will  be  the  fortunate  and  compensated 
preacher  who  realizes  the  spiritual  vitality  and  literary 
merit  of  Dr.  Watkinson's  elucidation  of  the  Evangel 
of  the  Son  of  God. 

S.  Parkes  Cadhan. 

Central  Church,  Brooklyn, 


Contents 


I. 

The  Shepherd  of  the  Sea 
Psalm  77  :  19,  20. 

II 

11. 

The  Unfailing  Light     .... 
Psalm  119  :  105  ;   2  Peter  I  :  19. 

25 

III. 

The  Victory  of  Patience 
2  Samuel  1 1  :  i  ;  James  5  :  7. 

41 

IV. 

The  Personal   Equation  in  Christian 

Belief 

I  Corinthians  15  :  32-34. 

53 

V. 

The  Magic  of  Grace      .... 
2  Corinthians  5  ;  17. 

67 

VI. 

The  Triumph  of  the  Spring  . 
Isaiah  32:  15. 

81 

VII. 

The  Indwelling  Spirit  .        .        .        , 
Ephesians  3  :  14-16. 

96 

VIII. 

The  Law  of  Liberty      .... 
Romans  8  :  i,  2. 

III 

IX. 

The  Principle  of  Spiritual  Growth     . 
Colossians  1:9,  10. 

125 

X. 

The    Conquest    of   Invidious  Circum- 
stance    ...... 

Isaiah  58:  11. 

138 

XL 

The  Chief  Joy 

Philippians  4 : 4. 

9 

151 

10 

CONTENTS 

XII. 

The    Table- Lands   of  the   Perfected 

Life 

Ephesians  i  :    3,  4. 

164 

XIII. 

The  Assurance  of  Hope 
Hebrews  6  ;  17-19. 

^17 

XIV. 

The  Royalty  of  Service 
John  13:3-5. 

190 

XV. 

The  Retarded  Triumph 
Jeremiah  31  :  16. 

203 

XVI. 

The  Snare  of  Unreality 
Luke  12:1. 

215 

XVII. 

The  Blight  of  Unbelief 
Matthew  16:6. 

230 

XVIII. 

The  Lure  of  Compromise 
Mark  8:15. 

244 

THE  SHEPHERD  OE  THE  SEA 

Thy  way  was  in  the  sea,  and  Thy  paths  in  the  great  waters,  and 
Thy  footsteps  were  not  known.  Thou  leddest  Thy  people  like  a 
flock,  by  the  hand  of  Moses  and  Aaron. — Psai,m  77 :  19,  20. 

IT  is  essential  to  our  peace  of  mind  that  we  be 
satisfied  as  to  the  rationality  of  life;  that  is,  that 
life  is  ordered  to  some  worthy  end.  We  can 
never  reconcile  ourselves  to  the  belief  that  Nature  is 
the  result  of  a  "  fortuitous  concourse  of  atoms  '* ;  that 
history  is  a  turbid  flow  of  unrelated  accidents ;  or  that 
our  private  life  is  aimless,  purposeless.  Whatever  may 
be  the  fact  as  to  the  prevalence  of  chance  or  design  in 
human  life  and  terrestrial  things,  we  certainly  hope 
that  it  is  the  latter ;  we  find  it  difficult  not  to  believe  in 
order  and  purpose,  and  only  when  we  have  satisfied 
ourselves  as  to  the  existence  and  perfection  of  a  pre- 
siding government  are  we  at  rest.  We  are  never  sin- 
cerely and  deeply  content  until  we  arrive  at  the  convic- 
tion that  the  world  and  life  are  dominated  by  a  Provi- 
dence that  is  wise,  just,  and  good.  Carlyle,  writing  to 
Emerson,  makes  this  confession:  "  My  belief  in  a 
special  Providence  grows  yearly  stronger,  unsubdu- 
able,  impregnable."  *  Such  a  belief  is  essential  to  our 
peace  of  mind. 

Revelation  justifies  our  intuition,  teaching  every- 
where that  all  creatures  and  events  are  subject  to  the 

*  Correspondence,  p.  69. 
II 


12  THE  SHEPHERD  OF  THE  SEA 

will  and  purpose  of  an  all-wise  God.  In  the  arrange^ 
ment  of  his  library  Napoleon  placed  the  Bible  in  the 
political  section,  and  so  far  we  may  admit  the  correct- 
ness of  his  judgment.  A  considerable  portion  of  it 
contains  a  record  of  the  mind  and  purpose  of  God  in 
action,  as  disclosed  in  history;  whilst  the  prophetic 
portion  is  occupied  chiefly  in  the  anticipation  of  the 
ultimate  triumph  of  the  Almighty's  programme  and 
design.  From  the  Book  of  Genesis  to  that  of  the 
Revelation  we  witness  the  evolution  of  an  all-com- 
prehending sovereignty;  one  that  recognizes  alike 
things  great  and  small,  and  through  a  wise  and  just 
administration  seeks  the  universal  good. 

Yet,  in  the  face  of  the  world  as  it  is,  of  things  as 
they  are  and  as  they  ever  have  been,  we  find  it  difficult 
to  maintain  this  faith.  The  actual  facts  of  history  and 
of  contemporaneous  life  seem  often  in  violent  collision 
with  our  creed,  and  greatly  trouble  us.  From  the  very 
beginning  history  has  progressed  through  the  tumul- 
tuous, the  destructive,  the  tragic;  through  the  ship- 
wreck of  empire  and  the  travail  of  ages.  "  Thy  way 
was  in  the  sea,  and  Thy  paths  in  the  great  waters." 
The  primitive  people  had  no  history,  their  whole  ex- 
istence being  a  blind  and  bitter  striving;  whilst  the 
successive  stages  and  scenes  of  subsequent  history  are 
crowded  with  episodes  of  strife  and  suffering.  The 
story  of  the  race  is  long  and  sorrowful.  It  has  paid 
a  severe  price  for  whatever  it  has  gained.  Nothing 
has  come  to  it  easily  or  cheaply.  Not  a  cell  in  our 
brain  but  was  fashioned  in  the  furnace ;  not  a  fibre  of 
our  being  but  was  wrought  on  the  anvil ;  not  a  trem- 
bling chord  of  our  moral  sense  but  was  strung  and 
tuned  by  the  discipline  of  pain.  The  stair  by  which  we 
have  ascended,  sloping  through  darkness  up  to  God,  is 


THE  SHEPHERD  OF  THE  SEA  13 

no  royal  road,  but  a  steep  spiral  that  must  be  climbed 
with  bleeding  feet.  "  For  we  know  that  the  whole 
creation  groaneth  and  travaileth  in  pain  together  until 
now"  (Rom.  8:  22).  Yes,  "until  now'';  for  never 
was  the  groan  more  deep,  or  the  anguish  more  intense, 
than  in  our  day. 

Such  is  the  actual  condition  of  things  confronting 
us,  which  we  are  called  upon  to  reconcile  with  opti- 
mistic doctrine.  Frankly  acknowledging  the  difficulty, 
let  us  see  what  solid  ground  yet  remains  for  a  confident 
faith. 

I.  We  recognize  the  difficulty  attending  belief  in  a 
divine  purpose.  If  peace  of  mind  is  possible  only 
whilst  we  assume  that  life  is  divinely  ordered  to  some 
worthy  end,  it  must  be  allowed  that  the  existence  of 
such  a  heavenly  will,  guiding  and  compelling  man  to 
a  definite  and  an  adequate  result,  often  appears  doubt- 
ful, and  sometimes  more  than  doubtful.  No  great 
thinker  of  our  generation  has  felt  the  difficulty  of 
recognizing  design  in  Nature  more  acutely  than  Dar- 
win, or  stated  the  case  more  fairly,  and  it  is  instructive 
to  study  his  position.  The  general  aspect  of  the  glori- 
ous universe  made  it  impossible  for  him  to  believe  in 
chance.  So  he  writes:  "  Another  source  of  conviction 
in  the  existence  of  God,  connected  with  the  reason,  and 
not  with  the  feelings,  impresses  me  as  having  much 
more  weight.  This  follows  from  the  extreme  difficulty, 
or  rather  impossibility,  of  conceiving  this  immense  and 
^  wonderful  universe,  including  man  with  his  capacity 
of  looking  far  backwards  and  far  into  futurity,  as  the 
result  of  blind  chance  or  necessity."  *  Again,  in  a  let- 
ter to  Asa  Gray,  he  writes:  "  I  own  that  I  cannot  see 
as  plainly  as  others  do,  and  as  I  could  wish  to  do,  evi- 
*  Life  and  Letters,  so\.  i.,  p.  312, 


14  THE  SHEPHEED  OF  THE  SEA 

dence  of  design  and  beneficence  on  all  sides  of  us. 
There  seems  too  much  misery  in  the  world.  .  .  . 
On  the  other  hand,  I  cannot  anyhow  be  contented  to 
view  this  wonderful  universe,  and  especially  the  nature 
of  man,  and  to  conclude  that  everything  is  the  result 
of  brute  force.  I  am  inclined  to  look  at  everything  as 
resulting  from  divine  laws,  with  the  details,  whether 
good  or  bad,  left  to  the  working  out  of  what  we  may 
call  chance.  Not  that  this  notion  at  all  satisfies  me."  * 
And,  once  more,  "  I  grieve  to  say  that  I  cannot  hon- 
estly go  as  far  as  you  do  about  Design.  I  am  con- 
scious that  I  am  in  an  utterly  hopeless  muddle.  I  can- 
not think  that  the  world,  as  we  see  it,  is  the  result  of 
chance;  and  yet  I  cannot  look  at  each  separate  thing 
as  the  result  of  Design."  "^ 

Is  not  this  dilemma  that  of  many  thinking  men,  who, 
like  Darwin,  are  not  by  any  means  atheistically  in- 
clined? Whilst  they  contemplate  Nature  as  a  whole, 
they  cannot  do  otherwise  than  admire  its  imity,  mag- 
nificence, and  goodness;  yet  they  fail  to  reconcile 
"  each  separate  thing  "  with  the  general  aspect ;  this, 
that,  and  the  other  detail  are  not  in  keeping  with  the 
larger  and  happier  interpretation, — ^nay,  they  often 
seem  directly  to  traverse  it.  Humboldt  quotes  Aris- 
totle to  the  effect  that  "  In  the  unity  of  Nature  there  is 
nothing  unconnected  or  out  of  place,  as  in  a  bad 
tragedy " ;  yet  certainly  things  often  appear  out  of 
place,  and  otherwise  incongruous  with  the  prin- 
ciples and  moral  of  the  great  drama,  taken  as  a  whole. 

But  is  there  not  a  very  real  consolation  and  sug- 
gested hopefulness  involved  in  this  dilemma?  The 
disturbing  factor  is  the  isolated  detail,  the  general 
laws  and  their  working  being  entirely  satisfactory. 
*Ibid.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  312.  'Ibid,  p.  353. 


THE  SHEPHEED  OF  THE  SEA  15 

Whatever  may  be  the  gaps  and  anomalies  occasioned 
by  the  detail,  the  grand  unity  is  maintained ;  whatever 
may  be  the  several  discordances  created  by  individual 
movements,  they  do  not  to  any  appreciable  extent  mar 
the  vaster  music;  whatever  may  be  the  partial  de- 
formities and  discolorations  which  offend  us,  they  are 
not  sufficient  to  blemish  the  splendor  of  the  master- 
piece. The  things  that  puzzle  and  pain  are  the  excep- 
tional details,  not  the  essential,  universal  laws  and 
their  normal  action.  And  is  it  not  possible,  nay,  is  it 
not  probable,  that  these  subordinate  discords  may  be 
capable  of  an  explanation  that  will  leave  free  from  the 
latest  shadow  of  suspicion  the  one  good  and  perfect 
Will  that  is  so  conspicuous  in  creation  ? 

Darwin's  perplexity  was  chiefly  caused  by  the  con- 
tradictions of  the  physical  sphere ;  yet  a  corresponding 
difficulty  is  suggested  by  social  experience  and  history. 
In  the  individual  life  we  have  the  consciousness,  that, 
on  the  whole,  things  work  together  for  good,  yet  many 
details  are  hard  to  bear  and  impossible  to  understand ; 
and  whilst  the  philosophical  historian  finds  sequence 
and  progress  in  the  history  of  the  race,  the  signs  of  a 
prevailing  and  beneficent  underlying  purpose,  there  are 
yet  ugly,  chaotic,  and  painful  incidents  to  be  explained. 
Here,  once  more,  the  main  aspects  are  satisfactory; 
and  if  not  always  so  clear  and  convincing  as  in  Nature, 
we  may  remember  how  seriously  the  development  of 
the  divine  purpose  in  the  fortunes  of  mankind  has  been 
disturbed  and  obscured  by  our  ignorance,  folly,  and 
wickedness. 

There  is  no  sufficient  reason  that  we  should  infer 
with  Darwin  that  the  major  part  of  Nature  is  governed 
by  intelligent  and  beneficent  law,  whilst  the  rest  is  left 
to  chance ;  it  seems  much  more  logical  to  conclude  with 


16  THE  SHEPHERD  OF  THE  SEA 

Asa  Gray  that  one  supreme  purpose  runs  through  the 
whole  creation  and  the  ages,  despite  many  appearances 
to  the  contrary.  "  For  of  Him,  and  through  Him,  and 
unto  Him,  are  all  things.  To  Him  be  the  glory  for 
ever.    Amen"  (Rom.  11:  36). 

n.  The  difficulty  attending  belief  in  the  divine 
wisdom.  How  the  regulation  of  mundane  affairs  is 
consistent  with  rationality  is  by  no  means  always  ap- 
parent; again  and  again  we  fail  to  follow  God's 
method.  Contradiction,  discord,  abortion,  failure,  or 
what  appears  to  be  such,  occasion  us  painful  perplexity. 
Our  reason  is  confounded,  as  ages  ago  was  that  of  Job. 
"  Behold,  I  go  forward,  but  He  is  not  there ;  and  back- 
ward, but  I  cannot  perceive  Him:  on  the  left  hand, 
when  He  doth  work,  but  I  cannot  behold  Him:  He 
hideth  Himself  on  the  right  hand,  that  I  cannot  see 
Him"  (23:  8,  9).  And  we  are  ready  to  complain 
with  the  psalmist,  "  How  doth  God  know  ?  and  is  there 
knowledge  in  the  Most  High?  "  (73:  11).  Some  will 
even  profanely  dare  to  speak  of  Nature  and  of  the 
government  of  the  world  as  examples  of  colossal 
blundering. 

P~  Yet  ought  we,  children  of  a  day  and  knowing  noth- 
ing, to  be  surprised  that  the  universe  exhibits  works 
and  movements  surpassing  our  comprehension? 
When  Michael  Angelo  was  in  the  midst  of  building 
St.  Peter's,  the  cardinals  accused  him  of  incompetence, 
and  of  destroying  the  work  of  his  predecessors.  But 
the  artist  declined  to  justify  himself,  and  refused  all 
discussion.  Said  he,  "  I  am  not  obliged  to  communi- 
cate either  to  you  or  to  any  one  that  which  I  ought  or 
wish  to  do.  Your  business  is  to  look  after  the  ex- 
penses. The  remainder  is  my  affair."  When  the 
workmen  complained,  he  replied,  "  Your  business  is  to 


THE  SHEPHEKD  OF  THE  SEA  17 

build,  to  hew,  to  do  joiner's  work,  and  to  carry  out  my 
orders.  As  to  knowing  what  is  in  my  mind,  that  you 
will  never  learn,  for  it  would  be  against  my  dignity  to 
tell  you."  How  much  more,  then,  shall  the  Architect 
and  Builder  of  the  universe  surpass  our  knowledge  and 
smile  at  our  criticisms  ?  "  For  God  is  greater  than 
man.  Why  dost  thou  strive  against  Him?  For  He 
giveth  not  account  of  any  of  His  matters"  (Job 
33:12,  13J.^''"God  k  greater  than  man."  How 
strange  thjt  it  was  ever  necessary  to  say  so!  How 
astonishing  our  effrontery !  Seeing  the  marvel  is  that 
we  understand  anything,  how  can  we  presume  to  un- 
derstand everything?  The  truest  sign  of  our  great- 
ness is  that  we  stand  dumb  before  the  mysteries  of  the 
majestic  universe. 

But  have  we  not  the  strongest  reasons  to  confide 
in  Him  who  stands  within  the  darkness,  ordering  all 
things  according  to  the  counsel  of  His  own  will  ?  The 
Old  Testament  is  never  weary  of  celebrating  the  wis- 
dom of  God  as  displayed  in  creation  and  providence; 
and  the  New  Testament  exults  in  the  variegated  wis- 
dom expressed  in  the  nature  and  processes  of  redemp- 
tion. Naturally  our  attention  is  more  directly  fixed  on 
the  spiritual  aspects  and  aims  of  the  divine  govern- 
ment, but  we  can  never  forget  that  the  intelligence  that 
presides  over  that  government  is  as  unerring  as  its 
design  is  sublime. 

Modem  knowledge  has  given  us  no  reason  to  doubt 
the  perfection  of  creation,  rather  the  contrary.  The 
devout  and  famous  men  who  lived  before  us  were 
awed  by  the  immensity  of  the  universe,  entranced  by 
its  loveliness,  and  amazed  by  its  perfection.  Said 
Balzac,  looking  over  the  landscape,  "  Oh !  that  is  true 
literature;  there  are  no  errors  of  style  in  a  meadow." 


18  THE  SHEPHEKD  OF  THE  SEA 

**  Nothing  can  exceed  the  beauty  of  the  country ;  it 
makes  pictures  appear  sad  trumpery/'  was  the  con- 
fession of  Constable.  And  hundreds  of  naturaHsts 
have  testified  with  Douglas  Dewar  "  Nothing  shoddy 
is  turned  out  in  Nature's  workshop.  Even  organs 
which  will  not  be  used  but  for  an  hour  are  finished 
with  the  utmost  care.  The  May-fly,  the  winged  life 
of  which  endures  not  a  whole  day,  could  not  be  more 
r  accurately  constructed  were  it  intended  to  last  for  a 
thousand  years.  The  mollusc,  that  spends  its  whole 
life  buried  in  the  mud  at  the  bottom  of  the  ocean,  se- 
cretes for  itself  a  most  beautiful  shell."  It  was  a  rare 
voice  indeed  that  complained  of  Nature's  shortcom- 
ings. But,  say  fifty  years  ago,  it  became  quite  the 
fashion  with  scientists  to  criticize  and  depreciate  the 
structure  and  operations  of  the  physical  universe.  In 
their  eyes  it  seemed  seriously  at  fault;  they  discov- 
ered, or  thought  that  they  did,  irregularity,  dishar- 
mony, defect,  redundance,  and  failure.  For  a  while 
it  appeared  as  if  this  sinister  interpretation  of  Nature 
was  to  be  accepted  by  all  clever  observers  for  all  time. 
Lately,  however,  the  tone  of  criticism  has  quite 
changed,  and  the  grand  old  doctrine  of  Nature's  per- 
fection once  more  holds  the  field.  A  distinguished 
scientist  thus  recently  rebuked  his  censorious  brethren: 
"  The  tendency  to  assert  that  this  or  that  character  is 
useless,  because  the  critic  cannot  find  a  use  for  it,  is 
strongly  to  be  deprecated.  Every  day  naturalists  are 
discovering  the  functions  of  the  most  insignificant- 
looking  organs.  He  would  he  a  rash  man  indeed  who 
would  now  assert  that  any  part  of  the  human  body  is 
useless."^     So  the  latest  science  concludes  with  the 

*  E.  S.  Goodrich,  F.  R.  S.,  The  Evolution  of  Living  Organisms, 
p.  17. 


THE  SHEPHERD  OF  THE  SEA  19 

psalmist,  "  In  wisdom  hast  Thou  made  them  all  ** 
(104:24). 

This,  then,  is  the  point  we  labor:  if  God's  works, 
despite  all  appearances  to  the  contrary,  are  found, 
after  severest  examination,  to  be  so  exquisite,  may 
we  not  reasonably  expect  one  day  to  discover  that, 
despite  all  appearances  to  the  contrary,  His  ways  are 
equally  wise  and  good  ?  How  deeply  humiliated  is  the 
student  of  Nature  when,  after  pronouncing  some  char- 
acter or  other  to  be  superfluous  or  injurious,  he  finds 
it  to  be  of  the  essense  of  wisdom  and  beauty!  And 
how  deeply  abased  shall  we  be  on  the  day  when  the 
secrets  of  God  are  made  manifest,  and  it  is  seen  that 
the  providences  we  resented  as  untimely  or  harmful 
were  exquisitely  adjusted  to  our  protection  and  per- 
fecting !  "  Woe  unto  him  that  striveth  with  his 
Maker !  a  potsherd  among  the  potsherds  of  the  earth ! 
Shall  the  clay  say  to  him  that  fashioneth  it.  What 
makest  Thou?  or  Thy  work.  He  hath  no  hands  "  (Isa. 
45:9). 

ni.  The  difficulty  attending  belief  in  the  divine 
justice  and  goodness.  Here  emerges  the  bitterest 
problem  of  life.  It  is  sufficiently  trying  to  suspect 
caprice  in  the  ordering  of  things;  the  sense  of  intel- 
lectual inadequacy  and  failure  in  the  world's  govern- 
ment is  distressing ;  but  when  events  offend  our  moral 
sense,  it  is  painful  indeed.  In  spite  of  our  conceit  we 
are  not  altogether  surprised  that  we  cannot  at  once 
solve  the  intellectual  difficulties  which  the  universe 
suggests;  but  that  brute  force  should  prevail  against 
right,  duplicity  against  truth,  and  that  innocence 
should  be  crushed  by  pride  and  truculence,  threaten 
despair.  The  psalm  before  us  loudly  gives  expression 
to  this  trouble.     "Will  the  Lord  cast  off  for  ever? 


20  THE  SHEPHERD  OF  THE  SEA 

And  will  He  be  favorable  no  more?  Is  His  mercy 
dean  gone  for  ever?  Doth  His  promise  fail  for  ever- 
more? Hath  God  forgottten  to  be  gracious?  Hath 
He  in  anger  shut  up  His  tender  mercies  ? "  These 
dark  days  overtake  the  best  of  men  in  every  genera- 
tion, and  they  bemoan  themselves  as  they  lose  sight  of 
justice  and  goodness  in  the  tumult  and  darkness.  "  I 
remember  God,  and  am  disquieted:  I  complain,  and 
my  spirit  is  overwhelmed."  "  Thy  way  was  in  the 
sea,  and  Thy  paths  in  the  great  waters,  and  Thy  foot- 
steps were  not  known." 

Yet,  even  here,  a  little  reflection  may  reassure  us. 
That  righteousness  is  the  condition  of  the  highest  wel- 
fare of  men  and  nations,  and  that  God  by  strange  in- 
struments and  terrible  visitations  brings  this  truth 
home  to  those  in  peril  of  moral  corruption  and  ruin, 
are  two  great  lessons  enforced  by  revelation.  Vesu- 
vius is  a  lesser  evil  to  prevent  a  greater;  and  tyrants, 
wars,  and  adversities  may  be  overruled  by  heaven  to 
saving  moral  issues.  In  the  tenth  chapter  of  the  Book 
of  Isaiah  we  learn  how  God  used  the  Assyrians  for 
disciplinary  ends  upon  Israel,  then  again  humbling 
them  for  their  pride.  "  Ho  Assyrian,  the  rod  of  mine 
anger,  the  staff  in  whose  hand  is  mine  indignation! 
I  will  send  him  against  a  profane  nation,  and  against 
the  people  of  my  wrath  will  I  give  him  a  charge,  to 
take  the  spoil,  and  to  take  the  prey,  and  to  tread  them 
down  like  the  mire  of  the  streets"  (vers.  5,  6). 
"  Wherefore  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  when  the  Lord 
hath  performed  His  whole  work  upon  Mount  Zion 
and  on  Jerusalem,  I  will  punish  the  fruit  of  the  stout 
heart  of  the  king  of  Assyria,  and  the  glory  of  his  high 
looks  "  (v.  12).  In  His  sovereign  wisdom  and  power 
the  Supreme  selects  the  scourge,  and  having  wrought 


THE  SHEPHEKD  OF  THE  SEA  21 

its  purifying  work  it  is  broken  in  turn  for  its  own 
cleansing. 

Has  not  this  method  of  arousing  retrograde  peoples, 
and  stimulating  them  to  a  higher  life,  been  followed 
through  the  centuries?    Writing  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, Douglas  Carruthers  observes:  "We  in  Europe 
'scarcely  realize  the  existence  of  the  Mongols  as  a  dom- 
inant factor  in  the  world's  history;  it  is  difficult  to  be- 
lieve that  the  Mongols  once  represented  the  greatest 
human  force  that  Providence  made  use  of  to  kindle 
the  dying  West  into  a  new  life.    There  is  no  doubt  that 
such  great  movements,  and  the  disturbances  that  fol- 
low in  their  wake,  bring  fresh  vitality  and  stimulus 
to  countries  sinking  into  a  condition  of  lethargy,  as 
instanced  by  China  and  Europe  in  those  days.     Na- 
ture realizes  the  necessity  of  periodically  purifying  the 
old,  stagnant  nations;  and  her  plan  is  generally  the 
^same,  namely,  by  war.''  *    The  forty-third  and  fifty- 
first  chapters  of  Isaiah  explicitly  teach  that  a  purer  na- 
tional life  may  be  made  possible  through  national  dis- 
aster.   In  the  twenty-fourth  chapter  of  St.  Matthew's 
Gospel  our  Lord  foretells  the  appalling  scenes  and  suf- 
ferings that  will  attend  the  development  of  His  King- 
dom.    And,  finally,  the  Book  of  the  Revelation  is 
crowded  with  awful  imagery  setting  forth  the  world- 
tragedies  amid  which  arises  the  City  of  God. 

The  divine  judgments  have  a  constructive  as  well 
as  a  destructive  side,  although  the  former  is  the  more 
likely  to  be  overlooked.  Whilst  much  Is  destroyed  and 
suffered,  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  learn  righteous- 
ness, and  in  this  fact  the  severities  of  the  divine  gov- 
ernment find  their  justification.  That  war  arises  out 
of  the  basest  passions  of  our  fallen  nature,  and  that  it 
*  Unknown  Mongolia, 


22  THE  SHEPHEKD  OF  THE  SEA 

is  essentially  one  of  the  direst  curses  that  can  afflict 
those  who  delight  in  it,  revelation  never  fails  to  teach ; 
yet  once  more  He  who  chastens  us  through  our  pleas- 
ant vices  converts  our  tragic  sins  into  instruments  of 
moral  awakening  and  incitement.  The  sword  has  no 
less  a  diabolical  signification  because  the  Supreme 
from  time  to  time  uses  it  as  a  surgical  instrument. 
And  what  is  true  in  relation  to  the  religious  conse- 
quences of  national  calamity  is  equally  true  in  re- 
lation to  the  overwhelming  disasters  which  wreck 
individual  prospects  and  appear  so  inexplicable. 

In  describing  the  rare  but  terrible  cyclones  which 
periodically  sweep  North  Queensland,  E.  I.  Banfield 
writes:  "  Nature  is  rational  even  in  her  most  passion- 
ate moments.  These  twenty-year-interval  storms 
comb  out  superfluous  leaves  and  branches,  cut  out  dead 
wood,  send  to  the  ground  decayed  and  weakly  shoots, 
and  scrub  and  cleanse  trunks  and  branches  of  parasitic 
growths.  All  is  done  boldly,  yet  with  such  skill  that 
in  a  few  weeks  losses  are  hidden  under  masses  of  clean, 
insectless,  healthy,  bright  foliage.  The  soil  has  re- 
ceived a  luxurious  top-dressing.  Trees  and  plants 
respond  to  the  stimulus  with  magical  vigor,  for  lazy, 
slumbering  forces  have  been  roused  into  efforts  so 
splendid  that  the  realism  of  tropical  vegetation  is  to  be 
appreciated  only  after  Nature  has  swept  and  sweetened 
her  garden."  *  ''  Nature  is  rational  even  in  her  most 
passionate  moments/'  May  we  not  believe  that  Provi- 
dence is  equally  rational  in  those  whirlwinds  that 
sweep  society,  and  which,  whilst  they  occasion  painful 
confusions,  also  cleanse,  stimulate,  and  beautify  the 
life  of  nations?  If  the  naturalist  discerns  rationality 
in  the  cyclone,  can  we  be  far  wrong  in  our  recognition 
*  The  Confessions  of  a  Beachcomber. 


THE  SHEPHEKD  OF  THE  SEA  23 

of  an  intelligent  and  a  benign  purpose  controlling  the 
tumult  and  fury  of  the  people,  and  through  discipline 
sweetening  their  life? 

The  living  God  is  Shepherd  of  the  ocean  as  well  as 
of  the  sweet  sylvan  mead;  He  is  present  and  watch- 
ful over  His  flock  in  the  days  of  storm  and  darkness, 
as  in  the  days  of  prosperity  and  peace.  It  is  in  the 
storm  that  the  shepherd  is  best  understood;  there 
specially  does  he  reveal  his  strength  and  faithfulness 
and  love.  It  is  in  the  dark  and  dangerous  crisis  that 
we  best  prove  the  saving  power  of  the  Shepherd  who 
gave  His  life  for  the  sheep.  The  grandeur  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  is  never  so  impressive  as  when  He  had 
the  storm  for  a  background.  Let  us  not  fear  when 
all  that  we  hold  dear  is  strewn  in  wreck.  When  the 
work  and  hope  of  years  disappear  in  all-enfolding  ca- 
lamity, the  Shepherd  may  be  hidden,  but  He  is  there. 
"Fear  not,  little  flock;  for  it  is  your  Father's  good 
pleasure  to  give  you  the  Kingdom"  (Luke  12:  32). 
He  feeds  and  keeps  amid  foam  and  spray,  as  on  green 
pastures  and  among  the  lilies.  And  in  the  hurricane 
that  hurls  the  strength  and  glory  of  nations  in  the 
dust,  the  Shepherd  still  controls,  remembering  mercy 
in  judgment.  The  trident  is  His  crook.  "  The  floods 
have  lifted  up  their  voice ;  the  floods  lift  up  their  roar- 
ing. Above  the  voices  of  many  waters,  the  mighty 
breakers  of  the  sea,  the  Lord  on  high  is  mighty.  Thy 
testimonies  are  very  sure"  (Ps.  93:  3-5).  Through 
all  the  uproar  and  shipwreck  His  "  testimonies,"  His 
principles  of  truth  and  justice.  His  purpose  of  mercy 
and  salvation,  prevail.  How  full  of  anxiety,  agita- 
tion, agony,  is  this  seventy-seventh  psalm!  How  full 
of  thoughts  of  mystery,  terror,  and  almost  despair, 
and  yet  with  that  sweet,  unexpected  verse  for  its  end- 


24  THE  SHEPHERD  OF  THE  SEA 

ing !  "  Thou  leddest  Thy  people  like  a  flock."  In  the 
very  heart  of  the  black  tornado  the  green  hills  of  mil- 
lennial years  are  in  view  upon  which  at  last  the  Shep- 
herd shall  feed  His  flock. 

To-day  we  are  confused  by  a  fearful  tempest  such 
as  the  world  has  never  seen  before;  yet  we  may  be 
sure  that  in  due  season  God  will  vindicate  Himself 
and  His  ways.'  Mr.  W.  H.  Hudson  tells  how  he 
climbed  a  church  tower  that  had  a  peal  of  eight  big 
bejls.  The  effect  of  the  chimes  was  too  awful  for 
words.  In  less  than  three  minutes  it  became  unendur- 
able. It  was  all  terrible,  shrieking,  crashing,  roaring, 
piercing  the  brain  like  a  steel  weapon,  and  it  would 
have  sent  him  out  of  his  senses  altogether  if  he  had 
remained  longer;  yet  at  the  distance  the  frightful  dis- 
cord resolved  itself  into  mellow  music.  To-day  we 
are  in  the  heart  of  a  confused,  roaring,  hideous  world 
that  might  well  drive  us  to  madness  and  despair;  yet 
let  us  wait  a  while,  obedient,  trustful,  patient,  and  the 
alarming  noises  that  now  affright  the  air  shall  prove 
Sabbatic  music  calling  the  race  to  a  higher  and  holier 
life.  They  who  have  got  the  due  distance  hear  "  the 
song  of  Moses  the  servant  of  God,  and  the  song  of  the 
Lamb,  saying,  Great  and  marvellous  are  Thy  works,  O 
Lord  God,  the  Almighty;  righteous  and  true  are  Thy 
ways,  Thou  King  of  the  ages  "  (Rev.  15:  3). 


( 


II 

THE  UNFAILING  LIGHT 

Thy  word  is  a  lamp  unto  my  feet,  and  light  unto  my  path. — 
Psalm  119: 105. 

And  we  have  the  word  of  prophecy  made  more  sure:  where- 
unto  ye  do  well  that  ye  take  heed,  as  unto  a  lamp  shining  in  a 
dark  place.— 2  Peter  1 :  19. 

WE  mortals  tread  a  dim  and  perilous  way,  and 
most  of  us  feel  the  need  of  guidance  in  the 
highest  and  most  solemn  matters  of  life. 
We  anticipate  a  realm  in  which  the  essential  truths  of 
being  will  shine  forth  without  the  possibility  of  being 
misunderstood.  "And  there  shall  be  night  no  more; 
and  they  need  no  light  of  lamp,  neither  light  of  sun; 
for  the  Lord  God  shall  give  them  light  "  (Rev.  22:  5). 
But  this  is  in  sharp  contrast  with  our  present  condition. 
Ours  is  "  the  night " ;  sin,  sorrow,  and  death  prevail, 
wrapping  the  world  in  darkness,  rendering  life  myste- 
rious, painful,  perilous.  We  have  sore  need  of  what- 
ever light  is  available.  As  Oliver  Cromwell  puts  it: 
"  One  beam  in  a  dark  place  hath  exceeding  much  re- 
freshment in  it."  The  Scriptures  claim  to  give  the 
light  that  our  situation  demands,  to  be  the  "  lamp  shin- 
ing in  a  dark  [or  squalid]  place,"  furnishing  an  ade- 
quate solution  of  the  painful  problems  which  oppress 
us,  **  the  master  light  of  all  our  seeing." 

In  the  Bible  we  believe  that  we  possess  the  truest 
clue  to  our  personality.     "  Know  thyself  "  is  the  first 

25 


26  THE  UNFAILING  LIGHT 

precept  of  philosophy,  and  in  the  sacred  book  we  best 
learn  this  secret.  Here  we  attain  to  the  knowledge 
of  the  spirituality  of  our  nature,  of  our  relation  to 
the  Father  of  spirits,  and  of  our  citizenship  in  the 
spiritual  and  abiding  universe.  Again,  on  the  sacred 
page  we  receive  the  glad  news  of  our  redemption 
from  sin  and  condemnation  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
Here,  too,  we  welcome  the  light  that  discovers  the 
path  of  present  duty.  And,  finally,  in  the  foregleam 
of  revelation  we  anticipate  our  destiny;  so  far  as  it 
has  any  practical  significance,  the  mystery  of  the  fu- 
ture is  disclosed.  We  do  not  go  to  our  Bible  expect- 
ing it  to  furnish  a  key  to  the  secret  of  the  stars,  or  to 

le  story  of  the  earth,  or  to  the  treasures  of  Nature; 
)ut  to  consult  it  for  what  it  really  is,  a  directory  of 
life.  What  the  creature  owes  to  the  Creator,  to  him- 
self, and  to  his  brother;  how  he  shall  fulfill  his  obli- 
gations and  attain  the  perfection  fitting  him  for  his 
destiny  in  the  redemptive  grace, — ^here  is  the  burden 
of  revelation,  and  they  misunderstand  and  misuse  it 
who  seek  in  it  what  pertains  to  science  and  philosophy. 
"  Ponder  the  path  of  thy  feet,  and  let  all  thy  ways  be 
established,"  or  "  ordered  aright,"  is  the  counsel  of  the 
wise ;  and  the  just  response  is  that  given  by  the  psalm- 
ist, "  Thy  word  is  a  lamp  unto  my  feet,  and  light  unto 
my  path."  Very  precious  indeed  in  a  life  of  perpetual 
anxiety  like  ours  is  the  gracious  light  that  shows  where 
next  we  can  set  down  our  foot  with  safety. 

On  the  present  occasion  we  propose  to  confine  our 
reflections  to  two  aspects  of  the  divine  guidance  vouch- 
safed in  revelation — its  trustworthiness  and  its  indis- 
pensableness. 

I.  The  trustworthiness  of  this  golden  lamp  of  the 
Church  of  God. 


THE  UNFAILING  LIGHT  27 

i.  The  trustworthiness  of  the  prophetic  word. 
**  The  word  of  prophecy  "  is  the  Old  Testament.  The 
words  of  Moses,  Isaiah,  and  all  the  prophets,  are  re- 
garded as  one  and  the  same  word,  their  entire  testi- 
mony, and  this  St.  Peter  assumes  is  worthy  of  our 
absolute  confidence.  The  Revised  Version  no  longer 
describes  the  prophets  as  "  holy,"  yet  we  know  that 
such  was  their  true  character;  in  dealing  with  them 
we  have  not  to  do  with  men  of  uncertain  reputation, 
but  with  men  of  profound  sincerity  and  truthfulness, 
corresponding  with  their  vocation,  themselves  burning 
and  shining  lights  in  dark  generations.  The  purity 
and  greatness  of  their  character  invite  confidence  in 
their  message.  And  their  message  was  divine.  "  For 
no  prophecy  ever  came  by  the  will  of  man:  but  men 
spake  from  God,  being  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost." 
The  things  they  taught  were  not  evolved  out  of  their 
own  consciousness,  not  views  and  imaginations  of 
their  own,  it  was  not  any  illumination  to  which  they 
had  attained  by  human  wisdom;  their  knowledge  of 
God  and  of  His  will  and  purpose  was  due  to  the 
authentic,  personal  action  of  God  Himself.  "  They 
were  moved  by  the  Holy  Spirit,"  carried  out  of  them- 
selves, above  and  beyond  themselves,  penetrating  to 
divine  secrets  outside  the  range  of  natural  vision. 
"  For  My  thoughts  are  not  your  thoughts,  neither  are 
your  ways  My  ways,  saith  the  Lord.  For  as  the 
heavens  are  higher  than  the  earth,  so  are  My  ways 
higher  than  your  ways,  and  My  thoughts  than  your 
thoughts"  (Isa.  55:  8,  9).  Into  that  supernal  realm 
were  the  great  prophets  exalted,  learning  the  thoughts 
and  ways  of  God,  that  they  might  make  known  to  the 
nations  the  way  of  salvation. 

Is  there  any  reason  to  hesitate  concerning  this  doc- 


28  THE  UNFAILING  LIGHT 

trine  of  inspiration?  We  freely  admit  the  doctrint 
so  far  as  it  relates  to  the  intellectual  world.  A  few 
elect  souls  possess  extraordinary  faculties  of  insight 
and  expression.  Victor  Hugo  writes,  "  The  produc- 
tion of  minds  is  the  secret  of  the  abyss,"  and  it  pleases 
the  Supreme  Spirit  ever  and  anon  to  call  forth  spirits 
of  rarest  power  and  vision.  We  must  remember  that 
revelation  recognizes  the  great  poets,  philosophers,  and 
artists  as  being  divinely  inspired;  and  we  have  no 
/<)ther  way  to  describe  genius  than  to  speak  of  Plato, 
'^Socrates,  Virgil,  Dante,  Angelo,  Shakespeare,  and 
:heir  peers  as  being  inspired.  And  the  greater  the 
ordinary  man  may  be,  the  more  does  he  reverence  these 
I  exceptional  spirits.  In  speaking  of  Isaac  Newton,  and 
referring  to  what  he  thought  defective  in  Newton's 
manner  of  reasoning,  Edmund  Burke  adds  in  a  paren- 
thesis, "If  in  so  great  a  man  it  be  not  impious  to  dis- 
^^ cover  anything  like  a  blemish."^  Thus  great  men 
speak  of  the  greatest.  And  we  all  do  them  singular 
homage,  accepting  them  as  lawgivers  in  the  intellectual 
sphere,  deferring  to  their  lightest  word. 

Why,  then,  if  we  thus  acknowledge  the  operation 
of  the  Spirit  in  the  mental  world,  should  we  stumble 
at  His  corresponding  action  in  the  moral  world? 
Whatever  may  be  our  need  of  supernatural  assistance 
in  respect  to  the  temporal  life,  we  need  instruction  and 
guidance  far  more  in  regard  to  our  moral  life  and 
duty.  Such  light  is  given  in  the  "  word  of  prophecy, 
whereunto  we  *  do '  well  that  *  we '  take  heed."  All 
who  gave  such  heed  have  proved  its  verity  and  virtue. 
So  far  as  the  Jews  have  been  loyal  to  the  sacred  book, 
it  has  secured  to  them  unity  and  persistence  through 
two  thousand  years,  in  spite  of  mighty  injustice,  perse- 
^  Sublime  and  Beautiful 


THE  UNFAILING  LIGHT  29 

cution,  and  calamity.  In  his  defense  Stephen  reminds 
his  accusers  of  "  that  Moses  .  .  .  who  received 
Hving  oracles  to  give  unto  us."  That  they  were 
"living,''  the  national  history  amply  proves.  There 
is  divinity  in  an  oracle  that  has  wrought  the  stupen- 
dous miracle.  And  just  as  multitudes  have  acknowl- 
edged the  intellectual  greatness  of  the  supreme  mas- 
ters, and  followed  their  guidance  with  thankfulness, 
so  myriads  have  felt  the  spiritual  truth  and  power  of 
the  prophetic  word ;  they  have  proved  it  to  be  the  word 
of  salvation  here  and  hereafter.  Strong  indeed  are 
the  words  of  our  Lord,  and  yet  entirely  justified,  "And 
He  said  unto  him.  If  they  hear  not  Moses  and  the 
prophets,  neither  will  they  be  persuaded,  if  one  rise 
from  the  dead  "  (Luke  16:  31). 

2.  Further,  "  We  have  the  word  of  prophecy  made 
more  sure."  That  is,  we  have  the  confirmation  of  the 
Old  Testament  in  the  New.  As  Dr.  George  Adam 
Smith  affirms :  "  We  do  not  exaggerate  if  we  say 
that  the  Bible  of  the  Jews  in  our  Lord's  time  was 
practically  our  Old  Testament.  For  us  its  supreme 
sanction  is  that  which  it  received  from  Christ  Him- 
self. It  was  the  Bible  of  His  education  and  the 
Bible  of  His  ministry.  .  .  .  We  look  to  Christ  as 
the  chief  Authority  for  our  Old  Testament."  '  Whilst 
our  Master,  on  a  few  points,  used  it  with  a  certain  dis- 
crimination. He  found  in  it  the  prophecy  of  Himself 
and  of  His  mission;  by  it  His  own  life  was  nurtured. 
He  quoted  it  with  absolute  confidence,  and  on  every 
occasion  enforced  it  as  containing  the  words  of  eternal 
truth  and  life.  Not  on  a  single  occasion,  not  for  a 
moment,  did  He  speak  lightly  or  contemptuously  of  it, 
but  invariably  with  confidence,  sympathy,  and  rever- 
*  The  Preaching  of  the  Old  Testament. 


30  THE  UNFAILING  LIGHT 

ence.  Let  us  make  Him  our  example  in  dealing  with 
the  Old  Testament,  and  there  will  be  no  more  flippant 
criticism  of  it.  Neither  let  us  attempt  to  weaken  our 
Lord's  sanction  of  the  Bible,  on  which  He  set  such 
store,  by  speaking  of  His  earthly  limitations,  for  in  so 
doing  we  deny  His  essential  glory  and  the  basis  of  our 
hope.  If  Edmund  Burke  in  alluding  to  Sir  Isaac 
Newton  was  constrained  to  write  apologetically,  "If 
in  so  great  a  man  it  be  not  impious  to  discover  any- 
thing like  a  blemish,"  shall  we  dare  to  suggest  frailty 
in  the  majestic  One  in  whom  God  speaks  His  final 
word  to  the  race?  Let  us  take  the  Old  Testament 
reverently  from  the  hand  of  the  Master,  with  His  sol- 
emn authentication;  using  it  as  He  used  it,  for  the 
knowledge  of  God,  the  strengthening  of  the  soul,  the 
ordering  of  life,  and  for  the  mighty  hope  that  it  im- 
plies and  promises.  What  was  good  enough  for  the 
Redeemer  is  good  enough  for  the  redeemed. 

Those  who  clamor  for  the  severance  of  the  two  Tes- 
taments may  rest  assured  that  they  plead  for  the  im- 
possible. Some  complain  that  injustice  is  done  to  the 
Old  by  its  being  bound  up  with  the  New.  "  The  old 
Jewish  Testament  is  of  so  grand  a  nature  that  there  is 
nothing  with  which  we  can  compare  it  in  other  litera- 
ture. The  New  Testament,  the  book  of  *  grace,*  ap- 
peals more  to  the  heart  of  little  souls.  To  have  joined 
the  New  Testament  to  the  Old,  as  the  Bible,  the  Book 
of  Books,  is  perhaps  the  greatest  audacity  that  literary 
Europe  can  have  on  its  conscience."  *  Whilst,  on  the 
other  hand,  certain  divines  are  troubled  lest  the  claim 
of  the  New  Testament  should  be  prejudiced  by  its  mar- 
riage with  the  Old.  We  may  rest  assured  that  this 
marriage  was  made  in  heaven.  The  Church  of  God, 
*  Nietzsche. 


THE  UNFAILING  LIGHT  31 

led  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  made  no  mistake  in  uniting 
the  two,  and  what  God  has  joined  together  no  man  can 
put  asunder.  The  Old  and  the  New  Testaments  are 
organically  one,  as  the  primeval  earth  and  the  tertiary 
constitute  one  complete  and  harmonious  globe.  As 
the  geological  world  through  many  mutations  gradu- 
ally reached  more  perfect  types,  dropping  ruder  forms, 
eliminating  coarser  life,  until  all  became  very  beautiful 
and  very  good;  so  the  redeeming  purpose  of  God  de- 
veloped through  much  imperfection  until  in  the  full- 
ness of  time  all  the  righteousness,  faithfulness,  and 
love  of  the  Deity  were  revealed  in  the  Messiah,  and  in 
His  salvation;  but  the  two  dispensations  are  two 
stages  of  the  one  glorious  drama.  And  as  to-day  we 
build  our  palaces  with  the  marbles  of  the  ancient 
world,  enrich  ourselves  with  its 'gold,  diamonds,  and 
precious  stones,  and  draw  from  its  depths  fire  and 
light,  power  and  beauty,  so  from  the  documents 
of  the  ancient  Church  do  we  derive  much  of  our 
best  treasure  for  the  enrichment  of  character,  the  en- 
lightenment of  our  understanding,  and  for  the  direc- 
tion of  life. 

We  consider, 

11.  The  indispensableness  of  this  revelation.  "A 
lamp  shining  in  a  dark  place."  We  were  born  in  the 
night;  we  have  lived  in  darkness;  we  are  not  without 
stars  and  moons,  but  we  have  never  yet  seen  the  light 
of  day,  only  the  twilight.  Hence  the  indispensability 
and  preciousness  of  God's  most  holy  word  to  guide  our 
feet  into  the  way  of  peace. 

But  it  is  objected  that  we  have  other  sources  of 
illumination  making  clear  the  path  of  life,  and  that 
these  render  us  independent,  increasingly  independent, 
of  any  ancient  book-revelation.     In  the  recently  pub- 


32  THE  UNFAILING  LIGHT 

lished  Journals  of  Emerson  we  find  him  complaining 
thfrtnpfeachers  insisHng  on  a  great  truth  are  usually 
anxious  to  show  how  it  corresponds  with  the  life  and 
teaching  of  Jesus,  instead  of  showing  how  the  life  and 
teaching  of  Jesus  corresponds  with  the  truth.  The 
truth  of  truths,  Emerson  contends,  consists  in  the  fact 
that  truth  is  self-evident ;  you  do  not  need  great  names 
to  substantiate  it.  It  is  light,  and  there  is  no  need 
of  a  candle  by  which  to  see  the  sun.  "  Why  must  I 
obey  Christ  ?  Because  God  sent  Him.  But  how  do  I 
know  God  sent  Him  ?  Because  my  own  heart  teaches 
the  same  thing  He  taught.  Why,  then,  shall  I  not  go 
to  my  own  heart  at  first  ?  "  *  But  the  patent  fact  is 
here  overlooked  that  much  remains  latent  in  the  mind 
and  heart  until  some  rare  genius  discerns  and  gives  it 
expression.  All  mathematical  relations  existed  before 
Euclid  came,  and  all  men  had  some  knowledge  of 
them;  yet  it  remained  for  Euclid  to  establish  the 
science,  to  define  and  demonstrate  the  truths  it  com- 
prehends. Our  intellect  teaches  the  same  thing  that 
Euclid  taught;  had  we  gone  to  our  own  intellect  first, 
we  had  been  little  the  wiser.  In  all  spheres  thinkers 
of  exceptional  vision  are  necessary  to  put  the  multi- 
tude in  possession  of  truths  otherwise  hidden  from 
their  eyes.  A  wealth  of  imagination  and  emotion  ex- 
isted in  the  human  heart  before  Shakespeare  came; 
yet  it  needed  the  great  poet  to  discern  and  distinguish 
its  workings  and  make  them  intelligible.  He  made  of 
the  mystery  of  the  heart  an  open  secret,  but  had  we 
first  gone  to  our  own  heart,  the  result  would  not  have 
been  encouraging. 

If  this  reasoning  be  correct  so  far  as  it  concerns 
the  intellectual  and  emotional  life,  it  is  even  more  so 
'Vol.  ii.,  p.  516. 


THE  UNFAILING  LIGHT  33 

in  relation  to  the  moral  nature.  After  a  Christian 
education  and  a  ministerial  period,  it  was  easy  for 
Emerson  to  find  in  his  own  heart  essential  truths ;  but 
had  he  not  first  ploughed  with  the  scriptural  heifer, 
would  he  so  readily  have  found  out  the  riddle?  Be- 
fore the  Christian  age  and  outside  the  Christian  zone, 
it  was  not  found  easy  to  come  to  the  knowledge  of 
the  eternal  truths;  on  the  contrary,  able  and  sincere 
seekers  sorrowfully  complained  that  they  could  not 
order  their  speech  aright  because  of  the  darkness. 
The  great  spiritual  truths  are  kindred  to  the  human 
mind  and  heart,  and  the  faculty  to  appreciate  them  is 
latent  in  all ;  but  the  anointed  seers  were  indispensable 
to  render  the  verities  luminous  and  efificient.  Pro- 
phetic spirits  in  Israel,  and  outside  Israel,  flashed  upon 
the  consciousness  of  the  nations  the  truths  by  which 
we  live ;  out  of  what  was  to  the  vast  majority  an  other- 
wise impenetrable  nebulousness,  they  caused  to  shine 
the  stars  by  which  we  may  safely  sail  this  mysterious 
sea.  Emerson  strikingly  confutes  his  own  doctrine 
of  simply  consulting  our  own  heart  for  the  truth,  for 
no  sooner  has  he  repudiated  Moses,  Isaiah,  and  our 
Lord,  rarely  mentioning  them  again,  than  he  proceeds 

(to  sprinkle  his  pages  thickly  with  the  names  and 
dicta  of  Homer,  Plato,  Plotinus,  Shakespeare,  Bacon, 
Goethe,  and  a  multitude  of  minor  stars.  Having  dis- 
1  pensed  with  Him  who  is  "  the  life  and  the  light  of 
men,"  he  reminds  us  of  the  Brazilians  who  after  sun- 
set read  as  best  they  may  by  the  light  of  bottled  fire- 
'  flies. 

It  is  very  generally  supposed  that  recent  years  have 
increased  our  knowledge  outside  revelation  on  the 
highest  questions,  whilst  the  fact  is  that  rationalists 
themselves  have  lost  confidence  in  several  of  the  guid- 


34  THE  UNFAILING  LIGHT 

ing  lights  which  they  once  considered  of  first  conse- 
quence. 

1.  The  trust  in  reason  upon  which  the  old  rational- 
ists placed  such  emphasis  has  been  rudely  shaken  by 
their  modern  successors.  That  the  chief  use  of  reason 
is  to  convince  us  of  our  ignorance  seems  the  general 
conclusion  of  these  moderns.  Consider  the  following 
from  TyndalFs  The  Forms  of  Water:  "  It  is  worth 
pausing  to  think  what  wonderful  work  is  going  on  in 
the  atmosphere  during  the  formation  and  descent  of 
every  snow-shower;  what  building  power  is  brought 
into  play ;  and  how  imperfect  seem  the  productions  of 
human  minds  and  hands  when  compared  with  those 
formed  by  the  blind  forces  of  Nature !  But  who  ven- 
tures to  call  the  forces  of  Nature  blind?  In  reality, 
when  we  speak  thus  we  are  describing  our  own  condi- 
tion. The  blindness  is  ours ;  and  what  we  really  ought 
to  say,  and  to  confess,  is  that  our  powers  are  absolutely 
unable  to  comprehend  either  the  origin  or  the  end  of 
the  operations  of  Nature."'  So,  according  to  our 
scientist,  Nature  is  not  blind ;  there  is  presumably  a  di- 
rective Spirit  in  the  universe.  The  wheels  are  full  of 
eyes ;  but  we  are  blind  and  utterly  incapable  of  compre- 
hending the  meaning  of  the  earth;  it  is,  indeed,  pre- 
sumption in  us  to  attempt.  And  if  the  agnostic  thus 
assumes  our  blindness  in  relation  to  the  origin  and 
end  of  the  operations  of  Nature,  he  none  the  less  in- 
sists on  our  blindness  in  respect  to  our  own  being  and 
destiny.  "  Everything  in  man  is  a  mystery,  and  we 
can  know  nothing  of  what  is  not  man.  That  is  human 
knowledge !  "  Such  is  the  finding  of  Anatole  France. 
According  to  these  philosophers,  the  painful  limita- 
tions of  the  intellect  forbid  that  we  can  ever  expect  to 
'  Page  31. 


THE  UNFAILING  LIGHT  36 

know  the  whence,  the  whither,  or  the  way,  and  we 
must  be  content  to  remain  in  profound  ignorance  of 
what  it  most  concerns  us  to  know.  If  there  is  truth 
in  this  contention,  a  much-boasted  Hght  has  waxed 
dim. 

2.  The  confidence  of  our  fathers  that  a  close  ac- 
quaintance with  Nature  would  guide  to  right  principles 
and  ends  has  been  seriously  shaken.  According  to 
Adolf  Wuttke,  "  The  essence  of  Chinese  morality  is 
an  effortless  conformance  to  an  eternally  changeless 
world-order."  '  Morality  is  "  a  mechanical  adapting 
of  self  to  universal  Nature."  Believing  this,  and  be- 
lieving that  the  nearer  people  live  to  Nature  the  more 
they  obey  natural  law,  Rousseau  sought  to  reverse 
civilization,  and  send  us  back  to  barbarism;  the  sav- 
age being  supposed  to  live  the  ideal  life  of  contentment 
and  happiness,  living  as  he  does  so  much  nearer  Na- 
ture. A  century  ago  how  much  pretty  poetry  and 
romance  was  written  by  the  French  in  this  strain! 
Yet  the  more  austere  naturalism  of  England  was  based 
on  the  same  view;  we  were  to  drink  in  the  spirit  of 

J  Nature,  closely  to  study  and  imitate  her,  and  by  her 
light  we  should  be  unerringly  guided.  How  far  is  all 
this  from  the  present  way  of  interpreting  Nature! 

S3ne  of  the  earlier  naturalists  writes:  "Singular,  in- 
deed, are  the  morals  of  flowers,  and  far  from  affording 
examples  to  be  imitated  by  us.  For  in  this  respect  to 
insure  success  Nature  uses  every  possible  artifice,  every 
sort  of  deceit,  every  kind  of  cruelty;  and  flowers  offer 
innumerable  instances  of  what  might  well  be  termed 
the  most  vicious  propensities." '  Later  naturalists  in 
a  chorus  join  in  this  indictment  of  Nature,  until  Pro- 

*  Christian  Ethics,  vol.  i.,  p.  44, 
(\'  Beccari,  The  Great  Forests  of  Borneo, 


36  THE  mSTFAILING  LIGHT 

fessor  Huxley  in  his  famous  lecture,  Bvolution  and 
Ethics,  threw  Nature  overboard  altogether  as  a  stand- 
ard of  human  duty.  According  to  this  leading  ex- 
positor of  the  ethics  of  Nature,  her  guidance  must  not 
be  accepted  if  we  would  reach  a  worthy  goal.  Her 
light  leads  astray.  Her  leading  principle  is  no  prin- 
ciple for  us.  Her  process  is  repugnant  to  our  higher 
instincts,  fatal  to  our  best  interests,  and,  if  we  would 
escape  damnation,  we  must  at  every  step  withstand  her 
spirit  and  example.  Here,  then,  another  lauded  lamp 
fails. 

3.  Conscience  has  long  been  reverenced,  and  con- 
sulted with  confidence  as  an  authoritative  guide  of 
life;  most  moralists  have  regarded  it  as  in  some  sense 
a  divine  oracle  whose  judgments  were  dogmatic  and 
obligatory.  Conscience  occupied  the  place  in  the 
moral  sphere  that  the  compass  does  in  the  natural.  It 
was  recognized  as  the  supreme  authority  in  the  prin- 
cipal rationalistic  systems  of  moral  philosophy.  But 
here  again  a  crucial  change  has  taken  place  in  the  esti- 
mate of  the  moral  sense  by  many  modern  thinkers. 
When  Nietzsche  writes,  "  The  prick  of  conscience  is 
as  foolish  as  the  bite  of  a  dog  on  a  stone.  Conscience 
is  not  the  voice  of  God,  but  of  other  men  in  the  heart 
of  man,"  *  he  bluntly  expresses  the  generally  accepted 
opinion  of  the  modern  evolutionist.  So  far  from  the 
moral  faculty  being  a  golden  heaven-lit  lamp  whose 
guiding  ray  may  be  implicitly  followed,  it  turns  out  to 
be  a  greasy,  smoky,  battered  old  lantern,  a  relic  of  an- 
tiquity, to  be  used  with  suspicion.  It  can  no  longer  be 
regarded  as  the  trumpet  of  the  eternal,  but  as  a  gramo- 
phone in  which  we  hear  the  voices  of  men  like  our- 
selves, of  a  multitude  inferior  to  ourselves — ^nay,  too, 
*Mugge,  p.  157. 


THE  UNFAILING  LIGHT  37 

of  strange  wild  notes  of  an  inhuman  past.  The  golden 
candlestick  of  the  Jewish  temple  is  said  to  be  buried  in 
the  mud  of  the  Tiber,  and  conscience  at  the  hands  of 
rationalism  has  suffered  a  similar  degradation.  So 
another  standard  light  has  gone ;  conscience  is  stripped 
of  its  divinity;  an  extinguisher  has  been  put  on  what 
the  old  deism  honored  as  "  the  candle  of  the  Lord." 

4.  The  instinctive  in  human  nature  gives  only  a 
flickering  light.  It  has  been  thought  that  as  beasts 
and  birds  possess  what  is  known  as  "  a  sense  of  direc- 
tion," so  humanity  will  be  guided  into  truth  by  an 
analogous  sense.  Instinct  is  the  impulse  that  has  been 
evolved  through  ages  under  the  pressure  of  actuality, 
and  influential  systems  of  modern  philosophy  trust 
more  to  its  promptings  in  the  conduct  of  human  life 
than  to  the  reasoned  conclusion.  Yet  those  most  in- 
clined to  defer  to  the  authority  of  instinct  see  reason 
to  doubt  it.  Fabre  in  Insect  Life  has  a  chapter  on 
"The  Science  of  Instinct,"  in  which  he  shows  with 
what  transcendent  art  insects  act  when  guided  by  the 
unconscious  inspiration  of  instinct.  But  in  the  follow- 
ing chapter  on  "  The  Ignorance  of  Instinct  "  he  shows 
that  a  strange  contradiction  is  characteristic  of  the  in- 
stinctive faculties,  and  that  with  deep  science  is  associ- 
ated ignorance  not  less  deep.  Fabre's  conclusion  on 
the  whole  matter  is  most  instructive:  "  Instinct  knows 
everything  in  the  unchanging  paths  laid  out  for  it ;  be- 
yond them  it  is  entirely  ignorant.  The  sublime  in- 
spirations of  science,  the  astonishing  inconsistencies  of 
stupidity,  are  both  its  portion,  according  as  the  crea- 
ture acts  under  normal  conditions  or  under  accidental 
ones."  We  might  well  feel  insecure  in  a  life  as  full 
of  strange  situations  as  ours  when  the  faculty  on  which 
our  safety  depends  is  liable  to  such  serious  aberrations; 


38  THE  UNPAILING  LIGHT 

for  it  must  be  assumed  that  the  errancy  noted  on  the 
lower  ranges  of  life  will  be  repeated  on  the  higher. 
So  it  would  seem  that  another  trusted  lamp  in  the  tem- 
ple of  Nature  burns  but  dimly,  if,  practically,  it  does 
not  wholly  fail. 

Let  it,  however,  be  distinctly  understood  that  the 
believer  in  revelation  is  under  no  obligation  to  depre- 
ciate the  natural  sources  of  illumination,  or  to  agree 
with  these  criticisms  of  them.  Reason  is  not  so  blind 
as  pictured;  for  if  the  forces  of  Nature  are  not  blind, 
neither  are  we  who  are  a  part  of  Nature;  if  there  is  a 
supernatural  element  in  Nature,  which  Tyndall  allows, 
we  by  an  inborn  sense  discern  the  supernatural  work- 
ing, and  everywhere  the  Scriptures  do  homage  to  that 
sense.  Neither  does  revelation  set  at  naught  the  light 
of  Nature,  but  allows  that  it  is  sufficient  to  see  God  by, 
and  to  render  authoritative  the  main  fundamental 
moral  truths.  Whether  or  not  the  conscience  is  a 
gramophone  charged  only  with  human  voices,  the 
noblest  rationalists  have  heard  in  it  the  trumpet  Moses 
heard  on  Sinai;  whilst  the  instincts  and  intuitions  of 
the  soul  are  constantly  appealed  to  by  revelation  and 
incited  to  action.  The  truth  is  that  justice  must  be 
done  to  all  these  organs.  Each  has  its  place  and  func- 
tion, and  a  serious  error  is  made  when  any  one  of  them 
is  unduly  depreciated.  Only  the  point  we  make  here 
is  that  no  one  of  these,  nor  all  of  them  combined, 
avails  to  meet  the  fullness  of  our  need ;  large  room  is 
left  for  further  illumination. 

Whatever  may  be  the  value  of  natural  signals  and 
internal  illumination  amid  the  perplexities  and  perils 
of  life,  all  impartial  minds  must  acknowledge  the 
unique  advantage  of  revelation.  Sin,  selfishness,  pas- 
sion, and  irregularities  of  life  have  destroyed  the  in- 


THE  UNFAILING  LIGHT  39 

tegrity  of  our  nature,  rendering  largely  unavailing  all 
native  lights ;  extraordinary  guidance  is  imperative  if 
we  are  to  find  and  walk  in  the  path  of  life.  The  Old 
Testament,  with  its  records  of  the  law  and  government 
of  God,  interpreted  by  elect  souls  greatly  gifted  with 
spiritual  insight,  sheds  marvellous  light  on  the  mystery 
of  life  and  the  way  everlasting.  The  New  Testament 
renders  that  light  more  marvellous  still.  The  supreme 
Teacher  of  the  ages  opens  His  lips,  and  the  obstinate 
problems  are  set  in  a  confident  and  rejoicing  light. 
The  Angel  standing  in  the  sun  is  a  dim  metaphor  of 
incarnate  Truth  and  Love  standing  on  the  earth,  mak- 
ing clear  the  dark  enigmas  which  for  ages  had  tortured 
our  intellect  and  conscience.  "  God  .  .  .  hath  at 
the  end  of  these  days  spoken  unto  us  in  His  Son" 
(Heb.  1:2).  "Again  therefore  Jesus  spake  unto 
them,  saying,  I  am  the  light  of  the  world:  he  that 
followeth  Me  shall  not  walk  in  the  darkness,  but  shall 
have  the  light  of  life  ''  (John  8:  13). 

We  may  be  reminded  that  of  late  years  revelation 
has  suffered  at  the  hands  of  criticism  equally  with  the 
moral  faculty  and  natural  theology.  Our  reply  to  that 
is  that  many  accredited  scholars  who  have  subjected 
revelation  to  severest  criticism  retain  their  hold  of  it 
faster  than  ever ;  they  are  satisfied  that  they  have  only 
taken  the  thief  out  of  the  candle,  and  henceforth  walk 
in  a  purer  light.  As  for  the  criticism  that  reviles  and 
rejects  revelation  altogether,  we  turn  from  it  to  the 
unsophisticated  million  who  in  the  fierce  struggle  of 
life  prove  the  reality  and  preciousness  of  their  Bible. 
Our  attention  is  unduly  fixed  on  those  who  in  literature 
dispute  revelation,  and  we  forget  the  myriads  of  the 
sincere  who  in  temptation,  difficulty,  and  sorrow,  in 
the  stem  strife  of  life  and  the  blinding  mystery  of 


40  THE  UNFAILING  LIGHT 

death  and  the  grave,  find  in  it  assurance  and  peace, 
their  strength,  shield,  and  utmost  salvation.  We 
should,  indeed,  be  forlorn  without  it.  A  while  ago 
the  object-glass  of  one  of  America's  largest  telescopes 
was  stolen.  Tremendous  theft,  it  was  like  making  off 
with  the  sky  and  stars!  But  who  shall  measure  the 
catastrophe  were  one  to  filch  away  the  Bible,  that 
grandest  glass  of  all  that  reveals  the  glory  of  the  fir- 
mament of  the  soul?  The  eternal  truths  would  abide, 
our  faculty  of  vision  in  some  degree  remain;  but  how 
many  of  the  great  lights  would  be  lost,  how  many  more 
wax  dim,  and  how  nebulous  and  uncertain  would  be- 
come all  our  knowledge  of  the  highest  things! 


Ill 

THE  VICTORY  OF  PATIENCE 

And  it  came  to  pass,  at  the  return  ef  the  year,  at  the  time  when 
kings  go  out  to  battle. — 2  SamueI/  ii:  i. 

Behold,  the  husbandman  waiteth  for  the  precious  fruit  of  the 
earth,  being  patient  over  it,  until  it  receive  the  early^  and  latter 
rain.—}AMts  5 : 7. 

TWO  ways  are  open  to  us  by  which  to  realize 
the  world;  the  one  false  and  disappointing, 
the  other  legitimate  and  successful.  The 
false  method  is  expressed  in  our  first  text — the  method 
of  haste,  violence,  lawlessness ;  the  true  method  is  de- 
scribed in  the  second,  that  of  patience,  industry,  and 
virtue.  "  When  kings  go  out  to  battle,"  they  invade 
a  country  with  the  design  of  suddenly  grasping  power, 
seizing  treasure,  and  covering  themselves  with  glory, 
apart  <f  rom  all  moral  considerations ;  believing  that  the 
world  is  for  the  strong,  they  conclude  that  if  they  are 
only  strong  enough,  prompt  enough,  subtle  enough, 
they  may  appropriate  whatever  they  covet.  When  the 
husbandman  sets  forth  to  realize  his  ambition,  he  is 
guided  by  a  wiser  programme ;  by  industry,  discipline, 
and  patience  he  strives  to  secure  the  wealth  of  the 
earth,  which  is  at  last  the  wealth  of  nations. 

The  quality  of  the  contrasted  methods  is  manifested 
in  their  respective  consequences.  Kings  go  out  to  bat- 
tle "  at  the  return  of  the  year  '* — that  is,  in  the  spring, 
when  Nature,  awakening  from  her  winter  sleep,  is  ar- 
rayed in  freshened  splendor,  when  the  flowers  appear 

41 


42  THE  VICTOKY  OF  PATIENCE 

in  the  earth,  the  music  of  the  bird  is  heard,  and  the 
sweet  sunshine  rejoices  all  hearts.  As  to  the  aspect  of 
I  things  when  they  return  from  battle,  the  ghastly  fields 
I  of  Belgium  and  Northern  France  testify;  and  those 
desolate  districts  represent  the  working  and  issues  of 
the  policy  of  violence  wherever  it  is  tried.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  husbandman,  allured  by  the  shower 
and  rainbow,  goes  forth  with  plough  and  seed-basket, 
spade  and  scythe,  to  realize  the  potential  opulence, 

To  scatter  plenty  o'er  a  smiling  land. 
And  read  his  history  in  a  nation's  eyes ; 

the  symbol  of  the  working  and  outcome  of  patient 
virtue  in  all  spheres.  As  Henry  Naegely  writes,  "If 
we  cast  a  glance  over  the  pages  of  history,  we  may 
note  that  the  monarch,  the  statesman,  the  financier,  and 
the  philosopher  continually  contrive  to  bring  the  world 
to  the  verge  of  ruin,  and  that  it  is  only  saved  from 
utter  destruction  by  the  peasant's  blood,  by  his  hard- 
won  earnings,  and  his  patient  toil.  Is  not  that  the 
story  of  the  nations  in  a  few  words?  "  * 

It  must,  however,  be  confessed  that  the  Christian 
beatitude,  "  Blessed  are  the  meek:  for  they  shall  in- 
herit the  earth,*'  does  not  commend  itself  to  the  ac- 
ceptance of  the  natural  man.  Violence  appeals  more 
powerfully  to  the  irnagination  and  passions,  and  all 
generations  have  felt  the  seductiveness  of  its  glamour. 
The  most  advanced  civilizations  have  stained  their 
glory  by  the  practice  and  praise  of  infernal  methods  of 
violence.  Despite  its  manifest  irrationality,  injustice, 
and  cruelty,  war  readily  awakens  the  enthusiasm  of  na- 
tions. The  very  refinement  of  a  people  seems  to  in- 
V.  F.  Millet  and  Rustic  Art. 


THE  VICTOKY  OF  PATIEIs^CE  43 

tensify  its  spirit  of  truculence.  A  pathetic  African 
proverb  reveals  this  singular  fact,  "  The  war  drum  has 
no  ornament " ;  so  it  would  seem  that  the  dire  nature 
of  warfare  is  more  frankly  recognized  by  the  bar- 
barian than  by  the  civilized,  who  disguise  the  horror 
by  a  profusion  of  ornaments,  material  and  literary. 
And  not  in  international  strife  only,  but  in  all  spheres, 
violence  is  apt  to  assume  a  commanding  aspect  beyond 
that  of  patient  right  and  unoffending  merit.  To  seize 
suddenly  a  prize,  to  assert  a  mastery,  to  gratify  a 
hungry  ambition  for  gold,  power,  or  indulgence  with- 
out the  fatigues  and  delays  of  honest  endeavor  is  an 
enchanting  temptation  that  human  nature  in  all  ages 
has  found  difficult  to  resist. 

Too  often  philosophy  is  ready  to  second  sinister 
ambitions,  to  justify  them  with  reasonings  that  deny 
reason.  Very  able  writers  are  at  this  moment  bent  on 
convincing  us  of  the  essential  utility  of  the  various 
vices.  "  Without  wickedness  people  would  be  unable 
to  display  their  good  qualities  " ;  "  It  is  impossible  to 
imagine  beings  possessing  at  the  same  time  goodness 
and  beatitude  '* ;  "  Liberty  could  not  exist  In  a  world 
where  servitude  did  not  exist."  We  ought,  therefore, 
to  regard  with  tenderness  the  vices  and  the  misery  they 
involve,  seeing  that  in  their  absence  "  we  should  be 
condemned  to  a  perpetual  moral  mediocrity."  *  With 
a  parity  of  reasoning  we  might  infer  the  greatness  of 
our  debt  to  fever,  cancer,  leprosy,  and  similar  diseases 
for  the  maintenance  of  the  general  health ;  and  for  the 
future.  Instead  of  regarding  the  lazar-house  as  a  sink 
of  physical  corruption,  respect  It  as  a  spring  of  public 
sanity.  To  say  that  In  the  present  order  of  things  dis- 
ease and  vice  are  possible  Is  far  from  allowing  that 
*Anatole  France,  Life  and  Letters, 


44  THE  VICTORY  OF  PATIENCE 

their  actuality  is  essential  to  the  continuance  of  health 
and  virtue.  Yet  such  is  the  contention,  that  without 
the  reality  of  evil  the  blessings  of  soundness  and  good- 
ness are  impossible. 

There  is  also  a  philosophy  that  finds  war  and  various 
other  forms  of  violence  necessary  if  the  heroic  quali- 
ties of  human  nature  are  to  continue.  In  his  Journals 
Emerson  asks,  "  What  is  the  meaning  of  this  invincible 
respect  for  war,  here  in  the  triumphs  of  our  commer- 
cial civilization,  that  we  can  never  quite  smother  the 
trumpet  and  the  drum  ?  How  is  it  that  the  sword  runs 
away  with  all  the  fame  from  the  spade  and  the  wheel? 
Why,  but  because  courage  never  loses  its  high  price  ?  " 
In  our  own  immediate  age  the  theory  of  the  indis- 
pensability  of  violence  to  the  conservation  of  a  vigor- 
ous virtue  has  been  asserted  by  an  abnormal  genius 
with  brutal  frankness,  whilst  a  great  nation  thankfully 
accepted  this  justification  of  their  worship  of  the 
sword,  and  provoked  the  bloodiest  war  the  world  has 
ever  seen. 

In  defiance  of  this  perversity  our  deepest  nature 
never  ceases  to  protest  against  the  violence  which  fills 
the  earth  with  sorrow.  That  courage  is  only  nour- 
ished by  carnage,  and  that  without  its  miseries  the 
sublimities  of  life  cannot  be  reached  is  a  doctrine  that 
outrages  our  profoundest  instinct ;  and  this  condemna- 
tion applies  not  only  to  war  but  also  to  violence  in  all 
its  forms  and  manifestations.  Passion  may  obscure 
the  instinct,  but  no  sophistry  can  destroy  it.  "And  it 
came  to  pass,  at  the  return  of  the  year,  at  the  time 
when  kings  go  out  to  battle."  What  a  sharp  and 
tragic  antithesis!  We  employ  the  very  season  when 
God  reveals  Himself  in  our  midst,  moving  us  to  won- 
der and  gratitude  by  a  thousand  splendid  gifts,  in  des- 


THE  VICTORY  OF  PATIENCE  45 

troying  His  gifts  and  one  another.  The  spring  brings 
a  revised  edition  of  a  big  Bible,  written  in  gold,  purple, 
and  azure,  bearing  fresh  witness  to  the  glory  of  the 
Creator  and  telling  again  of  His  good- will  to  men;  and 
this  is  the  season  we  choose  in  which  to  display  our 
darkest  passions  in  mutual  slaughter.  When  spring 
and  war  meet,  heaven  and  hell  meet ;  when  spring  and 
war  are  reconciled,  heaven  and  hell  will  kiss  each 
other.  The  universe  cannot  supply  two  pictures  in 
sharper  contrast;  and  when  we  see  the  wrath  of  man 
turning  God's  field  of  the  cloth  of  gold  into  a  crimson 
panorama,  we  instinctively  feel  that  war  and  all  vio- 
lence is  no  part  of  the  constitution  of  things,  but  a  dis- 
harmony, a  mystery  of  iniquity  contrary  to  the  divine 
character,  law,  and  purpose.  Revelation  amply  con- 
firms the  inborn  conviction. 

The  Church  of  Christ  has  no  reason  to  be  ashamed 
of  the  mild  maxims  of  its  Master.  Abundant  evi- 
dence is  at  hand  that  the  methods  of  violence  in  all 
spheres  result  in  failure. 

1.  In  the  imperial  realm,  where  violence  has  so 
largely  prevailed,  its  futility  is  conspicuously  manifest. 
"  History  has  already  compelled  the  question  why  im- 
perial races  rather  than  their  conquered  subjects  have 
ultimately  degenerated — why  it  is  that  nothing  fails 
like  success."^  Is  not  the  answer  to  this  question 
found  in  the  fact  that  these  imperial  races  achieved 
success  by  conquest — ^that  is,  through  violence — rather 
than  by  the  patient  processes  of  legitimate  progress 
and  possession?  The  ability  to  retain  a  possession 
once  acquired  is  largely  the  result  of  the  discipline  in- 
volved in  the  act  of  its  acquisition ;  and  when  such  dis- 
cipline for  any  reason  is  lacking,  the  retention  of  the 
*  Simpson,  The  Spiritual  Interpretation  of.  Nature, 


46  THE  VICTOKY  OF  PATIENCE 

property  in  question  becomes  precarious.  It  has  been 
well  said,  "  It  is  only  a  sudden  success  that  dazzles. 
Long  waiting  nearly  always  ensures  a  wise  posses- 
sion." How  often  do  we  see  when  a  great  or  wealthy 
man  who  has  risen  from  the  ranks  passes  away,  be- 
queathing to  his  sons  a  splendid  name  or  fortune,  that 
the  name  is  forthwith  tarnished  and  the  fortune  dissi- 
pated! The  explanation  is  that  the  solid  qualities  of 
knowledge,  judgment,  and  self-control  necessary  for 
the  retention  of  the  estate,  as  they  were  necessary  for 
its  acquisition,  are  wanting  in  the  undisciplined  heirs. 
Has  it  not  been  much  the  same  with  the  great  empires 
and  their  conquests  that  pass  before  us  in  history  ?  By 
brute  force  these  military  nations  grasped  and  ex- 
ploited the  territory  of  their  neighbors,  consuming  it 
upon  their  lusts ;  and  the  process  of  dissolution  began 
with  the  conquest,  for  an  abiding  empire  is  only  pos- 
sible when  built  up  in  the  spirit  of  equity  and  modera- 
tion. As  expressed  by  James„Russell  .Lowell :  "  All  his- 
tory shows  the  poverty  and  weakness  of  Force,  the 
wealth  and  power  of  Gentleness  and  Love."  Its  teach- 
ing is  that  empire-builders  must  remember  that  "  pride 
and  violence  dig  their  own  grave,"  and  that  therefore 
justice  and  patience  must  order  their  doings. 

The  devil  leads  those  in  whom  he  would  awaken 
ambition  up  a  high  mountain  to  show  them  the  king- 
doms of  the  world  and  their  glory;  but  whatever  he 
handles  he  deflowers.  The  glory  attained  by  false- 
hood and  inhumanity  changes  to  darkness,  and  the 
system  of  tyranny  they  create  and  bolster,  sooner  or 
later  comes  to  naught.  Is  not  the  history  of  our 
Lord's  temptation  most  suggestive  as  to  the  hollowness 
and  fugitiveness  of  the  promises  of  evil?  "And  the 
devil  led  Him  up,  and  showed  Him  all  the  kingdoms 


THE  VICTORY  OF  PATIENCE  47 

of  the  world  m  a  moment  of  time''  (Luke  4:  5). 
That  is  precisely  the  measure  of  the  duration  allotted 
to  his  mirages.  Power,  glory,  or  gaiety  captured  by 
illicit  methods  of  fraud  and  violence  have  no  large 
horizon  or  enduring  life;  but  are  seen  in  a  moment, 
bounded  by  the  moment,  and  are  no  sooner  seen  than 
gone.  The  vision  that  Bismarck  saw  was  of  this 
order;  the  whole  operation  belonged  to  the  realm  of 
magic,  no  relic  of  the  grandiloquent  fabric  being  left. 
Is  it  not  at  last  becoming  clear  to  thinking  men  that  the 
reality  and  permanence  of  government  are  attained 
only  by  fairness,  justice,  mildness,  mercifulness,  pa- 
tience, and  magnanimity? 

The  Times  newspaper  not  long  ago  contained  an 
article  on  "  The  Law  of  Success "  which  proceeded 
thus:  "Christian  Imperialism  is  secured  by  the  quiet 
dominance  of  the  meek.  There  is  no  place  for  arro- 
gance in  the  Empire  of  the  Spirit.  Fellowship  is  its 
law,  whilst  its  boundaries  are  as  wide  as  human  life. 
Its  spirit  is  the  spirit  of  meekness — at  once  active  and 
patient.  Its  self-sacrifice  is  the  measure  of  its  power. 
Those  who  would  live  worthy  of  this  imperial  power 
must  be  animated  by  a  passionate  devotion  to  the  will 
of  God  and  the  service  of  man.  They  will  recognize 
that  they  are  important  only  in  proportion  as  they  learn 
to  serve.  In  the  quiet  resolution  of  faith  they  will 
proceed  to  tasks  which  daunt  the  most  courageous  of 
this  world's  reformers,  and  thus  demonstrate  the  para- 
dox of  true  success."  Is  it  not  truly  remarkable  that 
one  of  the  great  leading  secular  newspapers  of  the 
world  should  publish  an  article  written  in  this  spirit, 
advocating  the  principles  of  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  ?  Verily  it  is  an  unmistakable  sign  that  civili- 
zation has  moved  far  in  the  right  direction. 


48  THE  VICTORY  OF  PATIENCE 

Cincinnatus  showed  a  true  patriotic  instinct  in  his 
return  to  the  plough,  for  in  the  spirit  of  the  husband- 
man— that  is,  in  the  temper  of  honest  and  useful 
industry,  of  modest  and  sober  living,  of  simple  enjoy- 
ment and  confident  waiting — is  the  enduring  civiliza- 
tion evolved;  whilst  the  lawlessness  and  riot  of  the 
men  who  delight  in  war  only  blight  and  destroy. 

2.  In  the  whole  range  of  the  social  sphere  the 
ploughman  with  his  dull  instruments  prevails  as 
against  the  warrior  in  shining  armor;  in  other  words, 
the  policy  of  justice,  tolerance,  and  brotherhood  works 
to  far  happier  issues  than  that  of  a  brutal  or  refined 
selfishness.  Scientists  have  for  long  past  been  accus- 
tomed to  dwell  on  the  combativeness  and  ruthlessness 
of  Nature;  and  writers  on  social  economy  have  been 
ready  to  conclude  that  the  social  organism  was  framed 
on  the  same  model,  and  controlled  by  the  same  law. 
They  have  written  largely  and  eloquently  on  the  iden- 
tity of  the  two  systems,  contending  for  the  inevitable- 
ness  of  intensely  selfish,  truculent  competition  in  all 
social  relations.  It  comes,  therefore,  as  a  welcome  re- 
lief to  learn  that  Nature  has  another  and  a  more  gra- 
cious expression.  A  close  observer  like  J.  H.  Fabre 
bears  this  testimony:  "  Never,  I  say  never,  do  we  find 
among  bees  and  wasps  an  idler,  assiduously  planning 
the  conquest  of  his  neighbor's  possessions.  No  insect 
is  a  parasite  on  its  own  species."  *  And  Ray  Lan- 
kester  declares  that  to  afiirm  that  aggressive  war  is  the 
basis  of  all  healthy  development  is  an  absurd  and  a 
pernicious  proposition,  and  he  absolutely  denies  the 
assumption  that  warfare,  or  anything  resembling  it,  is 
universal  among  living  creatures.  That  the  path  of 
progress  lies  through  the  "bloody  meadow*'  is  a  heresy 
*  The  Mason  Bees. 


THE  VICTORY  OF  PATIENCE  49 

in  science  as  well  as  a  crime  in  religion.  That  a  blind, 
brutal  egotism  is  neither  the  law  of  the  material  nor  of 
the  social  realm  is  a  conclusion  on  which  leading 
thinkers  are  more  nearly  agreed  than  ever. 

In  human  society,  unhappily,  the  individual  member 
too  often  becomes  a  parasite  on  his  own  species,  craft- 
ily and  forcibly  living  at  his  neighbor's  expense;  but 
wherever  the  misalliance  exists  it  is  at  the  cost  of  both 
parties.  The  legislation  that  favors  the  strong,  the 
clever,  or  the  opulent,  as  against  the  mass,  and  governs 
in  the  spirit  of  a  military  ascendancy,  eventually  pro- 
vokes another  form  of  violence,  such  as  Peterloo  Mas- 
sacres, French  Revolutions,  American  Civil  Wars,  and 
Russian  Bolshevism.  Trade  conducted  in  the  temper 
of  troops  looting  a  city  does  not  in  the  end  advantage 
any  party  concerned.  Sharp  practice,  extortion,  un- 
due pressure,  the  spoiling  of  the  other,  fierce  greed  and 
its  cruelties  never  yield  the  prosperity  they  promise. 
St.  James  paints  a  lurid  battle-piece  (5:  1-6)  in 
which  the  selfish  rich  ride  triumphantly  over  the  tram- 
pled laborers,  only  to  provoke  a  tragic  doom.  In  our 
day  the  trampled  worker  is  in  the  ascendancy,  and,  or- 
ganizing himself  on  the  basis  of  war,  threatens  re- 
prisal. It  will  be  well  for  him  to  remember  the  lesson 
of  his  past  history,  that  power  does  not  imply  right, 
and  that  the  ultimate  conquest  rests  with  fairness,  rea- 
sonableness, ability,  honor.  They  that  take  the  sword 
perish  by  the  sword,  whether  wielded  by  the  hand  of 
the  man  with  a  gold  ring,  or  by  the  horny  hand  of 
Labor. 

More  fully  than  ever  before  are  the  words  of  the 
apostle  being  understood  and  appreciated:  "  Thou 
shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.  But  if  ye  bite  and 
devour  one  another,  take  heed  that  ye  be  not  consumed 


60     THE  VICTORY  OF  PATIENCE 

one  of  another  "  (Gal.  5:  14,  15).  The  better  states- 
manship is  seen  to  be  that  which  does  not  aim  to  serve 
the  nation  by  secret  and  selfish  diplomacy,  but  by  hon- 
orable compacts  which  will  bear  the  light.  The  more 
intelligent  leaders  in  the  interests  of  both  Capital  and 
Labor  are  feeling  after  a  modus  that  will  make  the 
machine  work  more  smoothly  through  a  more  equal 
justice.  Tradesmen  have  less  faith  in  the  efficacy  of 
gladiatorial  competition,  and  are  increasingly  willing 
to  try  the  more  pacific  cooperation.  The  bandit,  the 
bully,  the  burglar,  the  pirate,  in  all  spheres,  whatever 
uniform  he  may  adopt,  and  whatever  strategy  he  may 
follow,  is  more  discredited  than  ever,  and  has  less 
chance  of  success.  The  genius  of  husbandry — mod- 
eration, gentleness,  patience,  and  a  great  trust  in  the 
faithfulness  of  Nature  to  requite  honest  merit — re- 
places the  dark  genius  of  the  freebooter,  truculent 
strength,  and  cunning. 

Whilst  so  much  has  been  written  by  naturalists  con- 
cerning the  selfish  ferocity  of  vegetation,  it  is  refresh- 
ing to  get  an  authoritative  testimony  to  another  efifect. 
J«mcs--Redway,  in  describing  the  Guiana  forest,  ob- 
serves: "The  orchids  never  fight,  either  among  them- 
selves or  with  other  plants.  Perhaps  one  of  the  rea- 
sons why  they  have  been  successful  in  life  is  their  re- 
tiring, unaggressive  nature.  Nevertheless  they  have 
overcome  difficulties  before  which  other  plants  were 
obliged  to  give  way."  How  suggestive  that  in  the 
tropical  forest,  where  the  struggle  for  air  and  sun  is 
most  intense,  the  least  aggressive  flower  survives, 
overcomes  difficulties  before  which  militant  plants  suc- 
cumb, and  attains  to  a  glory  beyond  them  all!  The 
moral  ought  not  to  be  missed  by  civilized  man ! 

3.     In  the  personal  life  it  will  prove  a  happier  choice 


THE  VICTOKY  OF  PATIENCE  51 

to  imitate  the  plodding  ploughman  rather  than  to  emu- 
late the  soldier  of  fortune.  The  swift,  glittering, 
strategic  career  is,  of  course,  far  more  alluring;  but 
the  modest,  lawful  method  in  the  end  brings  most  gain 
and  glory.  The  fact  is  that  violence — that  is,  force 
without  reason,  self-will  without  justice,  subtlety 
without  truth — never  really  succeeds  in  any  pursuit. 
Clutching  at  gold,  grabbing  property,  manoeuvring  for 
position,  often  secure  ephemeral  advantage;  but  sooner 
or  later  a  mysterious  law  asserts  itself  and  adjudges 
the  crown  to  those  who  have  played  the  game.  Intel- 
lectual men  sometimes  attempt  to  force  popularity  by 
resorting  to  wine  and  opium,  thus  snatching  dazzling 
effects  they  could  not  attain  by  sober  effort;  but  the 
great  masters  of  color,  eloquence,  and  song  did  not 
become  immortal  by  such  false  expedients;  and  im- 
moral audacity  wins  no  enduring  prize  in  any  calling. 
The  lust  of  pleasure  proves  a  mockery.  Seized  by 
self-will  and  relished  in  abandon,  the  delights  of  life 
become  insipid,  as  fruits  whose  ripening  has  been  has- 
tened by  electricity  are  said  to  lack  the  flavors  which 
alone  make  them  worth  having.  Whatever  the  coveted 
thing  may  be  that  is  obtained  and  used  lawlessly,  it  re- 
peats the  fable  of  the  rash  boy  with  his  crushed  butter- 
fly. The  type  of  true  success,  of  the  felicity  that  will 
bear  thinking  about,  is  the  wholesome,  diligent,  or- 
derly, useful  life  of  the  peasant  who  makes  of  the  earth 
a  garden  and  keeps  it  blooming  through  the  ages. 
"  To  them  that  by  patience  in  well-doing  seek  for  glory 
and  honor  and  incorruption,  eternal  life  "  (Rom.  2:7). 
Let  us  not  suppose  that  the  programme  of  peaceful 
endeavor  argues  any  defect  of  character,  or  infirmity 
of  purpose.  On  the  contrary,  perseverance  in  such  a 
life  is  only  possible  to  men  of  strength,  resolution,  and 


52  THE  VICTORY  OF  PATIENCE 

utmost  heroism.  As  Alfred  Stevens,  the  French  artist 
and  critic,  reminds  his  brethren,  "  Violence  is  not 
vigor."  Violence  betrays  the  consciousness  of  weak- 
ness, the  defect  of  vigor,  not  in  art  only,  but  in  regard 
to  all  callings,  aspirations,  and  efforts.  The  bravery 
of  the  ideal  husbandman  is  not  less  than  that  of  the 
happy  warrior;  indeed,  the  rustic  conqueror  is  ,the 
happy  warrior  of  bloodless  fields.  The  strength  of 
the  mild  and  passive  virtues  is  as  the  strength  of  ten, 
for  such  virtues  were  the  special  glory  of  the  strong 
Son  of  God.  "  The  kingdom  and  patience  which  are 
in  Jesus"  (Rev.  1:  9)  describes  the  true  and  eternal 
ideal. 


IV 


THE  PERSONAL  EQUATION  IN  CHRISTIAN 
BELIEF 

//  after  the  manner  of  men  I  fought  with  beasts  at  Bphesus, 
what  doth  it  profit  me?  If  the  dead  are  not  raised,  let  us  eat  and 
drink,  for  to-morrow  we  die.  Be  not  deceived:  Bvil  company 
doth  corrupt  good  manners.  Awake  up  righteously,  and  sin  not; 
for  some  have  no  knowledge  of  God:  I  speak  this  to  move  you 
to  shame. — i  Corinthians  15:32-34. 

IN  this  famous  chapter  St.  Paul  argues  for  the  per- 
sistence of  life,  vindicating  the  doctrines  of  resur- 
rection and  immortality,  basing  his  reasoning  on 
the  resurrection  of  our  Lord.  "If  it  is  with  but  mor- 
tal hopes  and  aims  that  I  have  battled,  like  some  gladi- 
ator, with  veritable  wild  beasts  here  in  Ephesus,  what 
is  the  good  of  it  all?  If  dead  men  rise  never,  let  us 
eat  and  drink,  for  to-morrow  we  die.  Ah,  but,  in  real 
truth  Messiah  has  been  raised  from  the  dead!  and 
(since  one  resurrection  disproves  the  impossibility) 
He  is  the  first  sheaf  of  a  great  harvest."  *  Such  is 
the  contention  of  the  apostle.  Our  text,  however, 
seems  to  be  an  interruption  to  the  great  argument,  and 
at  the  first  glance  it  appears  somewhat  irrelevant  and 
misplaced.  Yet  a  little  reflection  shows  that  it  is  a 
parenthesis  quite  in  place,  and  one  of  weightiest  signifi- 

^A.  S.  Way. 
53 


54  THE  PEKSONAL  EQUATION 

cation.  The  apostle  reminds  his  readers  that  faith  in 
the  great  future  is  not  simply  a  question  of  logic,  but 
also  a  question  of  the  state  of  mind  we  bring  to  the 
consideration  of  the  subject.  He  emphatically  de- 
clares that  it  is  possible  for  men  so  to  live  that  their 
vision  may  be  blurred,  their  sensibilities  dulled,  and 
they  themselves  become  incapable  of  great  ideals  and 
hopes.  To  appreciate  the  apostle's  position,  let  us 
note: 

I.  The  Influence  on  Religious  Belief  of  Per- 
sonal Temperament,  Atmosphere,  and  Associa- 
tion.— We  may  say  that  none  of  our  beliefs  are  de- 
termined by  pure  reason,  but  in  every  case  are  af- 
fected more  or  less  by  various  extraneous  factors, 
often  entirely  unsuspected ;  and  this  is  specially  true  in 
regard  to  religious  beliefs. 

1.  Personal  bias  may  hinder  appreciation  of  great 
truths.  That  our  convictions  and  sentiments  influence 
our  action  is  manifestly  the  case;  but  it  is  equally 
indisputable  that  our  mode  of  life  reacts  upon  the 
mind  and  colors  our  reasoning.  It  is  simple  illusion  to 
suppose  that  bare  logic  is  all  that  is  concerned  in  the 
formation  of  our  opinions,  whether  philosophical,  po- 
litical, or  religious.  The  pressure  of  personality  subtly 
deflects  the  logical  process.  As  Professor  J.  A.  Thom- 
son puts  it,  "  The  scientific  worker  is  well  aware  that 
in  measurements  and  observations  the  accuracy  attain- 
able is  only  approximate,  and  that  the  degree  of  ap- 
proximation varies  with  the  individual.  The  personal 
equation  has  been  for  a  long  time  frankly  recognized 
and  allowed  for  in  astronomy ;  it  is  also  sometimes  es- 
timated in  chemistry  and  physics ;  but  it  must  be  recog- 
nized all  round."  *  The  International  Bureau  of 
^Introduction  to  Science, 


m  CHRISTIAN  BELIEF  55 

weights  and  measures  at  Sevres  possesses  a  precision 
balance  of  extraordinary  sensitiveness ;  the  oscillations 
are  observed  through  a  telescope,  and  to  guard  against 
perturbations  due  to  the  warmth  of  the  operator's  body 
he  is  required  to  stand  twenty  feet  away  from  the  in- 
strument. Whenever  we  reason,  we  ought  first  of  all 
to  be  careful  that  we  stand  twenty  feet  away  from 
ourselves,  for  some  such  personal  detachment  is  essen- 
tial to  a  just  conclusion.  If  the  heat  of  the  body  will 
derange  the  mechanism  of  science,  what  will  not  the 
heat  of  mind  and  temper  do  when  allowed  to  disturb 
the  more  delicately  poised  scales  of  intellectual  and 
spiritual  judgment  ?  Our  personal  qualities,  our  sym- 
pathies and  antipathies,  our  interests  and  ambitions, 
bias  us  one  way  or  another,  and  materially  affect  the 
verdict  we  find.  Whilst  we  fancy  that  we  advance  in 
argument  by  measured  logical  steps  to  the  goal  of 
truth,  our  personality  dogs  us  all  the  way,  and  we 
finish  pretty  nearly  where  we  began,  with  the  goal  of 
truth,  it  may  be,  quite  out  of  sight. 

In  this  fact  we  discern  a  justification  of  the  apostle's 
position.  These  erring  members  of  the  Corinthian 
Church  had  suffered  their  mind  to  be  corrupted 
through  intimacy  with  the  godless  society  from  which 
they  ought  resolutely  to  have  severed  themselves ;  their 
gratuitous  fellowship  with  sceptical,  scoffing,  sensual 
companions  had  debauched  their  personality.  In  an- 
other place  St.  Paul  affirms,  "  To  the  pure  all  things 
are  pure:  but  to  them  that  are  defiled  and  unbelieving 
nothing  is  pure;  but  both  their  mind  and  their  con- 
science are  defiled"  (Titus  1:15).  The  converts 
whom  the  apostle  now  rebukes  had  allowed  themselves 
to  become  thus  depraved,  and  they  were  no  longer 
competent  to  judge  impartially  a  spiritual  question,  or 


66  THE  PERSONAL  EQUATION 

to  hold  firmly  the  splendid  ideals  and  hopes  of  the 
Christian  faith.  Their  attitude  to  its  singularly  sub- 
lime doctrines  was  no  longer  sympathetic  and  respon- 
sive, but  suspicious,  critical,  resistant.  When  the 
"  personal  equation  "  is  strong  and  adverse,  it  makes 
sad  havoc  with  logic,  especially  where  religious  truth 
is  concerned  that  demands  the  utmost  sincerity  and 
purity  of  purpose  in  those  to  whom  it  appeals. 

Astronomers  suffer  much  from  the  inaccuracy  of 
the  images  viewed  in  their  telescopes  in  consequence 
of  the  disturbances  in  the  atmosphere,  common  even  in 
clear  weather.  Hence  observatories  have  been  estab- 
lished at  stations  where  the  atmosphere  is  calm  and 
little  disturbed  by  currents.  But  on  investigation  Pro- 
fessor Langley,  of  Washington,  discovered  that  a  good 
deal  of  the  perturbation  of  telescopic  images  arises 
from  currents  within  the  telescope  itself.  The  first 
important  matter,  therefore,  if  the  astronomer  would 
see  clearly,  is  that  he  wholly  eliminate  the  disturbance 
within  the  tube  itself.  Living  as  we  do  in  a  world 
where  there  is  so  much  outside  us  to  mar  our  spiritual 
vision,  the  first  and  essential  thing  is  nevertheless  that 
we  free  ourselves  from  the  disturbing  currents  within 
— the  moods,  tempers,  and  sympathies  which  vex  and 
falsely  bias  the  soul. 

3.  Obscuring  and  falsifying  mediums  may  prevent 
the  apprehension  of  the  truth.  To  obtain  a  correct 
view  of  any  subject  whatever  it  is  necessary  that  we  se- 
cure a  right  standpoint  and  a  medium  that  will  neither 
distract  nor  distort.  The  mathematician,  artist,  or 
philosopher  selects  an  environment  that  agrees  with  his 
special  pursuit,  and  this  at  least  is  equally  necessary 
in  regard  to  the  highest  truth.  We  have  just  noted 
how  desirable  it  is  that  the  astronomer  first  purge  his 


IN  CHKISTIAN  BELIEF  57 

tube  of  all  disturbing  media;  but,  having  done  this,  it 
is  still  important  that  he  should,  as  far  as  possible, 
secure  a  clear,  calm  neighborhood  for  his  celestial  ob- 
servations, for,  seen  through  a  turbid  atmosphere,  he 
can  hope  to  get  only  a  blurred  image  of  the  orbs  of 
glory.  So,  if  we  v^ould  gain  a  just  view  of  the  heaven 
of  heavens  and  study  its  stars  of  light  to  saving  advan- 
tage, we  must,  as  far  as  that  is  practicable,  choose  a 
harmonious  environment  and  atmosphere.  Lovers  of 
pleasure  must  not  expect  a  clear  sight  of  the  City  of 
God  through  the  mirages  of  Vanity  Fair.  Demas 
cannot  "  see  afar  off  "  while  blinded  by  dust-clouds  of 
worldliness.  And  the  eternal  stars  are  no  longer  vis- 
ible through  the  reek  of  Dives'  orgies.  To  behold 
with  open  vision  the  glory,  and  to  feel  the  solemn  obli- 
gation of  spiritual  truth,  we  must  ascend  Mount  Zion, 
beautiful  for  situation;  in  other  words,  frequent  the 
sanctuary,  improve  Sabbatic  hours,  ponder  the  sacred 
page,  cultivate  saintly  friendship  and  fellowship,  in- 
dulge in  serious  thought,  and  give  a  sympathetic  hear- 
ing to  devout  literature.  In  requiring  a  corresponding 
environment  for  its  contemplation,  religion  asks  for  no 
more  than  all  serious  pursuits  demand. 

Here,  then,  we  become  acquainted  with  another 
ground  for  St.  Paul's  censure.  In  consequence  of 
surrendering  themselves  to  equivocal  company  and 
breathing  a  tainted  air,  these  imperilled  brethren  were 
in  danger  of  becoming  blind  to  essential  truths  and 
the  saving  hope.  The  sanctuary  was  being  neglected 
for  the  theatre,  sacraments  were  giving  place  to  wine 
and  roses,  the  fellowship  of  saints  forsaken  for  the 
society  of  sceptics  and  mockers.  They  were  once 
more  giving  the  pagan  elements  dangerous  opportu- 
nity; the  murky,  muddy,  mephitic  air  was  closing  in 


58  THE  PEKSONAL  EQUATION 

upon  them,  and  day  by  day  the  majestic  realities  of  the 
heavenlies  were  becoming  more  dim  and  doubtful. 

3.  Unsympathetic  society  may  make  it  difficult,  and 
in  the  end  perhaps  impossible,  to  appreciate  the  highest 
truth.  In  his  advice  to  painters,  Leonardo  da  Vinci 
writes  thus:  "The  painter  requires  severance  from 
companions  who  are  not  in  sympathy  with  his  studies. 
His  companions  should  resemble  him  in  a  taste  for 
these  studies;  and  if  he  fail  to  find  any  such,  he  should 
accustom  himself  to  be  alone.  If  you  must  have  com- 
panionship, choose  it  from  your  studio.  All  other 
companionship  may  prove  extremely  harmful."  So 
intolerant  is  art:  lest  the  thought  of  the  artist  should 
be  distracted  to  foreign  objects,  his  time  for  practice 
restricted,  or  his  enthusiasm  abated,  he  must  confine 
himself  to  studios,  live  with  artists,  consort  with  them 
only.  There  is  nothing,  therefore,  that  is  singular  or 
unreasonable  in  the  insistence  with  which  Christian 
teachers  demand  the  severance  of  the  spiritual  from  a 
carnal  generation.  To  a  certain  extent  they  must  of 
necessity  dwell  together;  but  intimate  voluntary 
friendship  is  a  peril  which  the  godly  must  shun.  If 
a  cube  of  lead  be  placed  on  a  cube  of  gold,  the  two 
metals  slowly  but  inevitably  begin  to  penetrate  each 
other;  thus  assuredly  do  we  tend  to  imbibe  the  spirit, 
to  share  the  opinions,  to  partake  of  the  qualities,  of 
our  intimate  associates:  only  in  this  case  we  may  fear 
that  the  lead  is  more  likely  to  debase  the  gold  than  the 
gold  is  to  enrich  the  lead.  So,  of  old,  the  righteous 
renounced  partnership  with  those  whose  lives  were 
moulded  on  opposite  principles.  "  Depart  from  me, 
ye  evil-doers,  that  I  may  keep  the  commandments  of 
my  God'*  (Ps.  119:  115).  And  if  we  would  retain 
our  hold  upon  a  great  creed  we  must  again  protest  with 


IN  CHKISTIAN  BELIEF  69 

the  psalmist,  "  I  hate  the  congregation  of  evil-doers, 
and  will  not  sit  with  the  wicked  "  (26:  6). 

Therefore  'tis  meet 
That  noble  minds  keep  ever  with  their  likes, 
For  who  so  firm  that  cannot  be  seduced  ? 

Here,  once  again,  we  find  justification  for  the  apos- 
tolic admonition.  The  front  of  the  offending  of  these 
doubtful  brethren  was  their  free  intercourse  with  their 
pagan  neighbors.  Despite  repeated  apostolic  warn- 
ings that  they  should  abstain  from  idolatrous  and  im- 
moral society,  that  they  should  come  out  from  among 
them  and  be  separate,  touching  no  unclean  thing ;  they 
continued  to  mix  with  the  heathen,  frequenting  their 
hatmts,  listening  to  their  talk,  partaking  in  amphi- 
theatre, carnival,  and  banquet  of  their  impure  pleas- 
ures. 

Never  was  it  more  necessary  than  at  the  present 
hour  to  recall  the  apostle's  solemn  warning.  It  is  now 
popularly  assumed  that  religious  questions  are  settled 
by  argument,  and  that  good  men  and  bad  are  equally 
competent  for  their  decision.  Without  any  reference 
to  character  people  presume  themselves  entirely  quali- 
fied to  debate  and  decide  the  most  solemn  questions  of 
life  and  destiny.  No  matter  what  their  character,  his- 
tory, or  habits,  they  consider  themselves  entitled  to 
pronounce  with  absolute  assurance  on  the  highest 
themes — God,  Christ,  the  atonement,  the  resurrection, 
immortality.  "  Not  so,"  responds  the  apostle ;  "  great 
beliefs  are  not  arrived  at  by  reasoning,  but  rather  do 
men  live  themselves  into  such  beliefs,  or  live  them- 
selves out  of  them."  We  may  confidently  affirm  that 
it  is  possible  so  to  live  that  it  is  easy  to  believe  grand 
truths,  natural  to  believe  them,  inevitable  and  delight- 


60  THE  PEESONAL  EQUATION 

f ul  to  believe  them ;  or  it  is  possible  so  to  live  that  such 
truths  appear  increasingly  incredible  until  finally  it  is 
impossible  to  accept  them  at  all :  one  by  one  the  eternal 
lights  vanish,  and  nothing  remains  but  atheism,  pessi- 
mism, despair.  "  Be  not  deceived."  "  Evil  associa- 
tions" work  insidiously,  deceivingly,  yet  in  the  end 
they  stultify  the  soul,  put  out  its  eyes,  destroy  its  sen- 
sibilities, lure  it  to  the  abyss;  none  are  clever  enough, 
strong  enough,  good  enough,  to  withstand  their  seduc- 
tive power. 

Are  any  of  us  entangled  by  the  associations  which 
the  apostle  deprecates?  Are  they  giving  us  a  secret 
bias  against  godly  doctrine,  partially  eclipsing  the  solar 
truths,  gradually  reconciling  us  to  unwholesome  places 
and  pleasures  ?  If  it  be  so,  or  before  it  be  so,  let  us  cut 
ourselves  free  from  the  dangerous  alliance;  abruptly, 
by  the  grace  of  God,  and  at  any  cost  let  us  deliver  our 
soul.  The  Government  is  building  a  new  magnetic 
observatory  in  a  lonely  pastoral  district  in  Scotland, 
remote  from  all  railways,  because  the  present  institu- 
tion at  Kew  has  become  unsatisfactory  owing  to  the 
proximity  of  electric  lines;  the  delicate  instruments, 
instead  of  registering  cosmical  movements,  have  taken 
to  record  the  movements  of  the  trams.  The  observa- 
tory has  been  removed  from  the  disturbed  area,  and 
placed  beyond  all  interfering  surroundings.  Has  our 
environment  become  dangerous  to  our  spiritual  life, 
confusing  our  thought,  numbing  our  conscience,  sap- 
ping our  will?  If  so,  let  us,  in  the  power  of  the  Spirit, 
forthwith  renounce  the  situation  with  its  temptations. 
So  shall  the  grace  of  God  have  free  course,  saving  us 
to  the  uttermost. 

II.  The  Perils  Besetting  Religious  Faith 
Against  which  we  have  Special  Need  to  Watch. 


IN  CHEISTIAN  BELIEF  61 

1.  We  cannot  acquire  or  retain  a  great  faith  whilst 
living  in  unrighteousness.  The  pagans  courted  by 
these  hesitating  brethren  were  often  intellectual  and 
eloquent,  and  no  doubt  made  telling  speeches  against 
the  new  doctrines  of  resurrection  and  immortality ;  but 
the  apostle  reminds  his  readers  that  the  appreciation  of 
these  doctrines  is  not  a  matter  of  cleverness,  but  of 
righteousness.  "Awake  to  righteousness,  and  sin  not.'* 
**  Start  from  this  drugged  slumber  with  a  righteous  re- 
solve." That  is,  only  righteous  men,  men  purposing 
to  live  holily,  can  see  this  kingdom  of  God  and  enter 
it.  The  history  of  the  classic  nations  sufficiently  dem- 
onstrates the  blinding  power  of  unrighteousness.  The 
conception  of  the  Deity  underwent  terrible  degrada- 
tion. They  "  changed  the  glory  of  the  incorruptible 
God  for  the  likeness  of  an  image  of  corruptible  man, 
and  of  birds,  and  fourfooted  beasts,  and  creeping 
things"  (Rom.  1:23).  And  the  conception  of  hu- 
manity was  similarly  debased.  "If  the  dead  are  not 
raised,  let  us  eat  and  drink,  for  to-morrow  we  die  " — 
was  the  call  of  one  of  their  great  poets.  When  men 
are  willing  to  live  like  animals  they  soon  adopt  an  ani- 
mal's catechism.  As  the  same  apostle  writes  elsewhere 
concerning  the  lawless,  they  "  hold  down  the  truth  in 
unrighteousness"  (Rom.  1:  18):  as  unbelief  tends  to 
irregularity  of  life,  so  looseness  of  living  increases  the 
blind  spot  to  total  blindness  of  mind  and  heart.  Thus 
the  apostle  warns  the  backsliding  brotherhood  of  Cor- 
inth that  commerce  with  the  ungodly  is  tending  to 
injure  their  conscience,  to  tarnish  their  character,  and 
of  necessary  consequence,  to  make  it  increasingly  diffi- 
cult for  them  to  hold  their  transcendent  faith. 

How  glaringly  false  is  the  assumption  that  we  arrive 
at  larger  knowledge,  true  wisdom,  and  clearer  vision 


62  THE  PEKSONAL  EQUATION 

of  higher  things,  only  as  we  pass  through  stages  of 
license!  The  sky  may  sometimes  be  reflected  in  a 
puddle,  but  woe  to  him  who  attempts  to  reach  the  stars 
that  way !  Only  along  the  line  of  sincere  purpose  and 
strict  morality  may  we  hope  to  reach  a  saving  knowl- 
edge of  the  truth.  The  warning  words  of  Victor 
Hugo  are  worthy  to  be  written  in  letters  of  gold,  **  Let 
us  never  forget  that  the  highest  is  only  attained 
through  the  high."  He  who  would  hold  a  creed  worth 
holding  must  follow  the  path  strewn  with  the  white 
flowers  of  chastity,  honesty,  sobriety,  faithfulness, 
practising  the  best  that  he  knows.  Great  beliefs  are 
not  reached  through  pleasant  bouts  of  dialectical  skir- 
mishing, but  through  expensive  experience  in  practical 
renunciation,  endeavor,  and  sacrifice. 

Do  I  now  address  any  who  are  not  without  aspira- 
tions, but  who  as  yet  have  not  been  able  to  receive  the 
sublime  articles  of  faith  which  St.  Paul  learned  from 
his  Master,  and  which  in  life  and  death  are  the  inspira- 
tion and  strength  of  the  saints  ?  To  these  let  me  say, 
Seek  for  this  treasure  of  the  soul  in  a  virtuous  life. 
Whilst  aspiring  after  a  vision  of  the  things  unseen  and 
eternal,  keep  close  to  the  law  of  righteousness;  prac- 
tise whatever  is  pure,  temperate,  true,  and  honorable, 
for  these  virtues  are  close  kindred  to  the  heavenly,  and 
they  are  the  sure  stepping-stones  to  those  shining  table- 
lands to  which  our  God  Himself  is  moon  and  sun. 
None  shall  walk  thus  conscientiously,  frequenting  holy 
places,  consorting  with  good  and  godly  men,  patiently 
waiting,  hoping,  praying,  but  the  Spirit  of  truth  and 
holiness  shall  lead  him  Into  the  light. 

2.  High  spiritual  beliefs  are  impossible  whilst  we 
live  the  sensual  life.  St.  Paul  tells  these  wavering 
disciples  that  it  is  impossible  for  the  high  and  spiritual 


IlSr  CHRISTIAN  BELIEF  63 

thought  of  the  resurrection  and  the  resurrection  life  to 
exist  in  the  heated  atmosphere  of  Epicureanism.  The 
Christian  ideal  must  be  nurtured  in  a  brighter  and 
purer  air.  "  Do  not,"  he  says,  "  go  on  deceiving  your- 
selves. Do  not  continue  in  that  fatal  mistake  of  ex- 
pecting to  live  the  old  sensual  life  and  still  to  keep  your 
souls  pure  and  your  hope  of  the  resurrection  bright 
and  open.  Pagan  companionships,  words,  and  ideals 
corrupt  and  lower  the  higher  life,  which  you  have 
learnt  to  live  in  Christ." '  In  his  letter  to  Titus  the 
apostle  states  the  matter  most  forcibly,  "  For  the  grace 
of  God  hath  appeared,  bringing  salvation  to  all  men, 
instructing  us,  to  the  intent  that,  denying  ungodliness 
and  worldly  lusts,  we  should  live  soberly  and  right- 
eously and  godly  in  this  present  world ;  looking  for  the 
blessed  hope  and  appearing  of  the  glory  of  our  great 
God  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ"  (2:  11-13).  There 
is  no  "  looking  for  the  blessed  hope  "  except  the  soul  is 
kept  clear  by  abstinence,  purity,  and  discipline.  The 
lust  of  the  flesh  always  dims  the  spiritual  vision,  and 
sometimes  blinds  the  eyes  of  the  heart.  Indulgent  liv- 
ing is  the  foe  of  high  thinking,  especially  the  highest ; 
turbid  atmospheres  quench  the  heavenly  light ;  a  pam- 
pered body  denies  the  resurrection  body;  a  putrid  air 
stifles  the  divine  life  of  the  soul. 

Neither  is  it  necessary  that  we  go  to  "  excess  of 
riot "  to  bring  about  the  darkness  of  the  inward  eye. 
Men  of  a  certain  temperament  and  culture  who  are 
bent  on  a  pleasant  life  may  have  discretion  and 
strength  to  keep  indulgence  within  safe  limits.  With- 
out any  high  motive  they  seek  to  regulate  their  pleas- 
ures by  the  aesthetic  sense;  form,  taste,  propriety,  ele- 
gance, determine  and  control  their  gaities.  The  appe- 
*  Carr,  HorcB  Biblicce. 


64  THE  PEKSONAL  EQUATION 

tites  and  their  gratification  are  ruled  by  prudence.  A 
while  ago  our  scientists  were  experimenting  with  or 
about  "  hot  ice  " ;  this  paradoxical  product  represents 
the  epicurean  who  combines  animal  heat  with  a  cool 
judgment,  and  never  exceeds  moderation.  They  are 
the  successors  of  the  Preacher  who  was  king  over  Is- 
rael in  Jerusalem:  "  So  I  was  great,  and  increased 
more  than  all  that  were  before  me  in  Jerusalem:  also 
my  wisdom  remained  with  me**  (Eccles.  2:  9).  Yet 
these  wise  voluptuaries  are  the  most  sceptical  of  all; 
none  so  blind  as  the  perfect.  However  ethereally  sen- 
suality comports  itself,  it  perverts  the  organs  of  our 
highest  nature  and  shuts  out  the  vision  and  powers  of 
the  highest  world. 

Sir  Hall  Caine  writes  of  Dante  Gabriel  Rossetti  that 
"  he  was  not  an  atheist,  but  an  unbeliever.  In  face  of 
death  his  attitude  was  one  of  waiting;  he  did  not 
know."  But  how  could  it  have  been  otherwise  with 
one  living  that  particular  life  of  indulgence?  His 
sister  Christina,  who  lived  in  the  spirit,  saw  visions, 
and  realized  in  them  consolation  and  power.  As  her 
biographer  writes,  "  For  her  the  western  skies  are 
ablaze  with  the  magnificent  colors  not  of  a  sunset,  but 
of  a  sunrise.  Her  hope  is  unvexed  by  a  single  doubt. 
It  is  strong  and  assured.  She  sings  her  hymn  of  the 
blessednesses  which  are  laid  up  for  them  that  love  God, 
like  some  lark  that  has  climbed  the  golden  stairs  to  the 
very  entrance  gates  of  the  better  country.  The  heav- 
enly Jerusalem  is  as  dear  to  her,  and  as  familiar,  as  to 
the  exiled  apostle  or  to  St.  Bernard.  She  prays  that 
soon,  brought  home  in  peace,  she  may  have  her  own 
place  among  its  citizens,  and  walk  in  white.  And  God 
has  given  her  her  heart's  desire,  and  has  not  withheld 
the  request  of  her  lips."     "  The  full  assurance  of  un- 


IN  CHKISTIAN  BELIEF  65 

derstanding,"  "  the  full  assurance  of  faith,"  "  the  full 
assurance  of  hope,"  and  "  an  abundant  entrance  into 
the  heavenly  kingdom,"  are  granted  to  the  sincere  in 
heart,  the  pure  in  spirit,  the  upright  in  life. 

3.  If  the  great  hope  is  to  be  kept  brightly  in  view, 
we  must  be  careful  as  to  how  we  live  the  secular  life. 
Some  think  that  they  discern  in  the  present  genera- 
tion a  growing  scepticism  in  regard  to  our  immortal 
destiny.  Watts  has  symbolized  this  trend  in  his 
famous  picture  of  "  Hope,"  every  string  of  whose 
lyre  is  broken  except  one.  What  is  the  reason  for 
these  snapped  chords?  It  is  not  because  science  has 
discredited  the  Christian  outlook;  a  goodly  number, 
and  apparently  an  increasing  number,  of  illustrious 
scientists  are  themselves  partakers  of  the  glorious  hope. 
It  is  not  because  philosophy  has  given  any  new  sanction 
to  unbelief;  on  the  contrary,  modern  philosophy  is  look- 
ing more  sympathetically  than  ever  in  the  direction  of 
spiritual  doctrine  and  promise.  And  it  is  certainly  not 
because  poetry  has  failed  faith ;  whatever  may  be  said 
of  certain  minor  singers,  the  master-minstrels  are  poets 
of  immortality.  The  fact  is  that  we  live  in  an  age  of 
astonishing  material  and  industrial  progress ;  we  have 
acquired  vast  wealth,  and  enjoy  an  exceptional  abun- 
dance of  good  things.  Is  not  the  temptation  and  peril 
of  our  age  here?  Is  not  this  large  measure  of  liberty, 
leisure,  and  luxury  stealing  away  our  heart  from  God  ? 
Are  we  not  forgetting  our  highest  nature  in  the  riot  of 
meaner  things,  our  inmost  needs  in  our  bodily  needs? 
How  can  we  continue  to  hold  a  grand  creed  if  we 
persist  in  reducing  life  to  the  squalid  formula,  "  What 
shall  we  eat?  what  shall  we  drink?  and  wherewithal 
shall  we  be  clothed  ?  "  "  For  some  have  no  knowledge 
of  God."     By  a  fervid  godliness,  by  the  vivid  con- 


66  THE  PEESONAL  EQUATION 

sciousness  of  God's  being,  of  His  nearness,  of  His 
goodness,  of  His  claims,  we  must  sanctify  all  temporal 
things  to  the  end  for  which  He  ordained  them,  if  we 
are  to  keep  intact  and  radiant  the  hope  that  redeems 
and  glorifies  all  that  we  have  or  are. 

Yes,  let  us  live  ourselves  into  the  spiritual  realities. 
We  shall  not  dream  ourselves  into  them,  or  reason 
ourselves  into  them ;  we  must  live  ourselves  into  them. 
Seek,  then,  the  assurance  that  transfigures  life,  not  in 
logic,  but  in  life  itself ;  not  in  controversy,  but  in  con- 
duct ;  not  in  syllogisms,  but  in  practical  obedience  and 
noble  action.  It  is  wonderful  how  a  great  faith  grows 
upon  us  in  clearness,  reasonableness,  and  power  as  we 
live  sincere,  consecrated,  and  obedient  lives.  By  de- 
grees the  unseen  universe  becomes  as  real  to  us  as  the 
seen — nay,  more  so,  for  "If  any  man  willeth  to  do 
His  will,  he  shall  know  of  the  teaching,  whether  it  be 
of  God''  (John  7: 17). 


THE  MAGIC  OF  GRACE 

Wherefore  if  any  man  is  in  Christ,  he  is  a  new  creature:  the 
old  things  are  passed  away;  behold,  they  are  become  new. — 
2  Corinthians  5:  i7- 

I.  r  I  ^HE  NEW  CREATION.— The  New  Testa- 
I  ment  has  nothing  to  say  about  mending 
JL  men;  it  uniformly  demands  something  far 
more  profound.  Secular  systems  of  morality  seek  to 
bridge  over  the  distance  between  the  actual  and  the 
ideal  man  by  culture,  reformation,  amelioration; 
whilst  the  Gospel  demands  a  change  so  radical  and 
complete  that  it  can  be  described  only  as  a  regenera- 
tion, a  resurrection,  a  transformation  in  the  spirit  of 
the  mind,  or,  as  in  our  text,  a  new  creation. 

What,  then,  does  this  new  creation  imply?  Let  us 
for  the  moment  consult  the  scientist,  who  ought  to  be 
able  to  give  us  some  light  on  a  question  that  has  so 
much  to  do  with  the  sphere  in  which  he  works. 
Professor  J.  Arthur  Thomson,  treating  of  the  muta- 
tions and  uplifts  of  Nature,  writes  thus:  "  We  turn  to 
Nature's  method  of  making  extraordinarily  new  things 
out  of  very  old  things.  For  this  is  what  has  happened 
in  a  great  number  of  cases  where  something  apparently 
novel  has  emerged.  The  old  is,  as  it  were,  recrystal- 
lized.  The  mineral  becomes  a  jewel.  .  .  .  There 
is  no  doubt  that  to  make  an  apparently  very  new  thing 
out  of  a  really  very  old  thing  is  part  of  Nature's 

67 


68  THE  MAGIC  OF  GKACE 

magic."  *  Shall  we  then  say  that  the  order  of  grace 
follows  that  of  Nature,  and  that  the  new  creature  in 
Christ  Jesus  is  an  extraordinarily  new  being  brought 
out  of  one  old  and  famiUar?  Whatever  conversion 
may  imply,  something  of  the  old  man  manifestly  per- 
sists. The  physical  features  are  unchanged,  the 
mental  and  temperamental  characteristics  abide ;  Peter, 
James,  and  John  are  Peter,  James,  and  John  to  the  end 
of  the  chapter.  Personality  is  inviolable,  immortal. 
Yet  the  converted  have  known  a  change  as  deep  as  it 
is  delightful.  "The  old  has  become  recrystallized ; 
the  mineral  has  become  a  jewel."  The  whole  per- 
sonality has  been  raised,  refined,  beautified;  it  has 
known  this  time  not  "  the  magic  of  Nature,"  but  the 
magic  of  grace. 

Let  us  attempt  a  closer  view  of  this  wonderful 
transformation.  In  another  part  of  this  Epistle  St. 
Paul  suggests  a  parallel  between  the  creation  of  the 
world  and  the  creation  of  the  saint.  "  Seeing  it  is 
God,  that  said,  Light  shall  shine  out  of  darkness,  who 
shined  in  our  hearts,  to  give  the  light  of  the  knowledge 
of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ  "  (4:6). 
May  we  not,  with  the  guidance  of  modern  knowledge, 
pursue  this  parallel  ?  When  the  world  was  made,  this 
world  as  we  know  it,  it  was  the  consequence  of  two 
immense  changes.  The  first  of  these  was  the  expul- 
sion of  the  monstrous,  and  the  other  the  ennoblement, 
of  the  normal.  We  shall  endeavor  to  show  that  these 
two  changes  in  the  primitive  earth  prefigure  the  trans- 
formation of  the  penitent  wrought  by  the  grace  of  the 
Lord  Jesus. 

1.     The    expulsion    of    the    monstrous.      Popular 
literature  has  made  us  familiar  with  the  character  and 
'  The  Wonder  of  Life. 


THE  MAGIC  OF  GKAOE  69 

appearance  of  the  tenants  of  the  primitive  earth.  A 
terrible  fraternity!  Frightful  sea-scorpions,  heavily 
armored  fishes,  giant  amphibians,  monstrous  reptiles, 
dragons  of  the  air,  dragons  of  the  slime,  swarmed  on 
every  hand — beasts  as  fierce  and  destructive  as  colossal. 
As  the  time  drew  nigh  for  the  advent  of  man  these 
hideous  shapes  disappeared.  Exactly  how  their  ex- 
tinction came  about  we  do  not  know,  but  the  night- 
mareish  brood  were  blotted  out  as  though  they  had 
never  been.  And  forthwith  a  nobler  order  of  life  be- 
gan to  arise.  Mild,  beautiful,  and  useful  creatures 
took  possession  of  a  brightening  world.  This  was  one 
part  of  the  great  change  that  the  Creator  saw  to  be 
"  good,"  and  that  the  psalmist  would  seem  to  celebrate, 
"  Thou  hidest  Thy  face,  they  are  troubled ;  Thou 
takest  away  their  breath,  they  die,  and  return  to  their 
dust.  Thou  sendest  forth  Thy  Spirit,  they  are  cre- 
ated ;  and  Thou  renewest  the  face  of  the  ground " 
(Ps.  104:  29,  30). 

He  who  becomes  a  new  creation  in  the  grace  and 
power  of  Christ  experiences  a  parallel  cleansing  from 
the  base  elements  that  defile  and  destroy.  St.  Paul 
gives  an  insight  into  the  manifold  and  virulent  work- 
ing of  evil  in  our  nature.  Here  is  a  dismal  catalogue 
of  the  ghastly  passions  that  afflict  us:  "  Now  the  works 
of  the  flesh  are  manifest,  which  are  these,  fornication, 
uncleanness,  lasciviousness,  idolatry,  sorcery,  enmities, 
strife,  jealousies,  wraths,  factions,  divisions,  heresies, 
envyings,  drunkenness,  revellings,  and  such  like " 
(Gal.  5:19-21).  "And  such  like  "—an  infinity  of 
evil,  a  world  of  iniquity,  assuming  endless  forms  of 
dire  activity.  And  how  hateful  are  these  motions  and 
outgoings  of  depravity!  The  mastodons  and  mam- 
moths of  the  geological  world  were  domestic  pets 


70  THE  MAGIC  OF  GEACE 

compared  with  this  obscene  menagerie  of  lusts  and 
vices.  "  Now  if  any  man  be  in  Christ  Jesus  "  these 
morbidities,  irrationaHties,  maHgnities,  are  arraigned, 
convicted,  and  receive  their  sentence  of  doom — "  a 
word  shall  quickly  slay  them."  "  They  that  are  of 
Christ  Jesus  have  crucified  the  flesh  with  the  passions 
and  the  lusts  thereof  '*  (Gal.  5:24).  No  power  except 
that  "  from  on  high  "  can  subdue  and  expel  the  evil 
that  has  enthroned  itself  in  the  human  breast ;  the  one 
overmastering  force  that  can  effectually  deal  with  our 
innate  unrighteousness  is  the  knowledge  and  power  of 
the  truth,  holiness,  and  love  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
And  is  there  any  joy  on  earth  comparable  with  that 
which  springs  up  in  the  heart  as  we  feel  the  grace  of 
Christ  getting  the  victory  ? 

Once  more,  a  new  order  of  qualities,  perfections, 
and  experiences  emerges,  as  gentler  life  succeeded  the 
extirpation  of  the  odious  brutes  of  the  primeval 
epoch.  St.  Paul  presents  another  catalogue,  this  time 
a  delightful  one:  "  But  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit  is  love, 
joy,  peace,  longsuffering,  kindness,  goodness,  faithful- 
ness, meekness,  temperance:  against  such  there  is  no 
law  "  (Gal.  5:  23,  23) — a  sweet  society  to  replace  the 
ugly,  venomous,  destructive  vices  of  unregenerate 
days.  The  jungle  with  its  fierce  and  poisonous  life  is 
transformed  into  a  garden  in  which  flowers  bloom  and 
fruits  of  paradise  ripen,  where  doves  nestle  and 
springs  of  joy  gush  forth  whose  waters  fail  not,  where 
music  fills  the  air  and  the  peace  and  glory  of  the  Lord 
brood  continually. 

The  great  change  may  not  be  completed  in  a  day; 
perhaps  it  very  rarely  is.  Greatly  reduced  in  number, 
bulk,  and  malignity,  some  of  the  misshapen  creatures 
of  the  geological  world  still  linger,  as  relics  of  the 


THE  MAGIC  OF  GKACE  71  c 

carnal  mind  often  persist  to  trouble  the  regenerate  life. 
A  recent  writer  on  natural  history  notes  the  disturbing 
anomalies  of  the  tropics.     "  Surely  of  all  the  million 
of  beautiful  things  in  this  beautiful  world,  palms  are 
amongst  the  most  lovely!     Certainly   parts  of  the 
tropics  are  earthly  Edens.    But  beautiful  objects  were 
not  the  only  ones  prominent  in  this  journey,  and  the 
presence  of  the  scaly  reptiles  we  saw  every  few  min- 
utes was  not  altogether  in  harmony  with  the  graceful 
palms.    They  seemed,  indeed,  to  be  somewhat  out  of 
place,  'survivals,'  as  indeed  they  are,  of  an  earlier 
age  of  the  world,  when  gigantic  saurians — creeping, 
walking,  swimming,  and  flying— were  the  ruling  exist- 
ences, in  a  world  of  slime  and  mud  and  ooze,  and  not 
in  accord  with  these  beautiful  trees,  which  seem  as  if 
they  should  rather  be  associated  with  bright-colored 
birds  and  insects  than  with  these  crawling,  saw-backed 
monsters."  '    Is  there  not  often  in  Christian  character 
and  experience  a  felt  discord  corresponding  to  this 
tropical  anomaly?    Amid  much  that  is  pure,  generous, 
and  beautiful  in  the  disposition  and  life  of  the  saints, 
are  they  not  sometimes  conscious  of  disturbing  "  sur- 
vivals'*    of    days   happily    passed    away?     Impure, 
avaricious,  impatient,  jealous,  angry  passions  assert 
themselves,  as  the  "  scaly  reptiles  "  are  yet  in  evidence 
amid  the  palm-trees  and  lotus  flowers.    Dwindling  in 
number,  abated  in  force,  in  subtle  forms  and  move- 
ments the  irregular  impulses  betray  themselves;  no 
longer  "the  ruling  existences,"  they  yet  linger  to 
threaten  and  distress. 

None  must  assume  that  he  is  a  Christian  who  gives 
free  range  to  the  foul  vices  enumerated  by  the  apostle 
in  the  dismal  catalogue  just  quoted ;  to  do  so  is  hypoc- 
*A  Naturalist  in  Madagascar. 


72  THE  MAGIC  OF  GEACE 

risy  indeed.  Those  only  are  in  Christ  who  resolutely 
strive  against  the  false  and  impious,  who  long  for  the 
glorious  day  of  the  utter  extirpation  of  the  alien  ele- 
ment, and  who  earnestly  work  toward  the  desired  end. 
"  We  who  died  to  sin,  how  shall  we  any  longer  live 
therein?"  (Rom.  6:3).  Let  us  vehemently  hasten 
the  completion  of  our  conversion.  He  who  has 
already  secured  to  us  the  mastery  of  the  passions  can 
sanctify  and  strengthen  until  the  purest  life  becomes 
all  nature  and  all  delight. 

Finish  then  Thy  new  Creation, 

Pure  and  spotless  let  us  be ; 
Let  us  see  Thy  great  salvation, 

Perfectly  restored  in  Thee. 

2.  The  ennobling  of  the  normal.  The  creation  of 
the  world,  of  the  world  as  we  know  it,  witnessed  the 
refinement,  spiritualization,  transfiguration  of  many 
organisms  which  passed  over  from  the  old  order  to 
the  new.  Certain  innocent  creatures  and  innocuous 
forms,  however  incomplete,  that  managed  to  exist 
in  the  geological  age  found  a  place  in  the  new  kingdom. 
What,  however,  we  now  desire  to  notice  is  that  none 
of  these  remained  what  they  were  before,  but  acquired 
fullness  of  life,  burst  into  a  new  splendor,  attained  a 
rarer  virtue  and  perfection.  It  is  thus  with  the  "  new 
creature  in  Christ  Jesus."  Much  belonging  to  the 
natural  life  retains  its  place  in  the  new  life,  yet  nothing 
here  remains  as  before.  New  and  higher  ideals,  laws, 
relations,  and  aims  come  into  view,  and  lend  to  the 
entire  natural  situation  and  experience  a  novel  and 
an  excelling  glory. 

Scientists  are  satisfied  that  the  primitive  world 
contained  no  proper  flowers;  plants  of  various  kinds 


THE  MAGIC  OF  GKACE  73 

grew  by  the  million,  but  all  were  colorless,  flowerless, 
and  the  earth  an  immensity  of  green.  But  one  day — 
for  we  must  speak  of  a  day — the  plants  responded  to 
the  touch  of  Nature's  magic,  the  law  of  progressive 
coloration  came  into  play,  and  the  flowers  appeared 
on  the  earth — white,  orange,  purple,  lilac,  blue,  adorned 
with  a  thousand  spots,  stains,  and  steaks  of  loveliness. 
A  leap  indeed  from  the  cryptogamic  plant  to  the  rose, 
the  lily,  the  orchid!  The  answering  uplift  to  this  is 
what  we  want,  and  what  we  get,  in  Christ  Jesus.  In 
response  to  the  divine  impulse,  the  folded  powers  of 
the  soul  open  to  the  sun.  Not  rarely  the  intellectual 
faculties  of  the  converted  become  efflorescent,  some- 
times in  an  extraordinary  degree;  but  always  the 
character  acquires  a  new  grace,  whilst  in  life  and  action 
the  doctrine  of  God  is  adorned  in  all  things.  And 
whatever  enters  into  this  complex  life  of  ours  in  being, 
calling,  or  fellowship,  becomes  significant  and  fascina- 
ting as  never  before.  The  grandeur  of  the  eternal 
to  which  the  convert  awakes  gives  a  new  greatness  and 
beauty  to  whatever  concerns  him.  The  commonplace 
vindicates  itself  as  extraordinary.  Life  reveals  itself 
in  a  morning  glory.  The  weed  opens  into  a  rose. 
"  The  glory  of  Lebanon  shall  be  given  unto  it,  the 
excellency  of  Carmel  and  Sharon:  they  shall  see  the 
glory  of  the  Lord,  the  excellency  of  our  God  "  (Isa. 
35:3). 

Scientists  assure  us  that  in  the  ancient  world  the 
birds  were  songless,  song  being  only  a  recent  acquisi- 
tion of  theirs ;  there  were  plenty  of  cries  of  terror  and 
pain,  but  nothing  of  the  nature  of  music.  One  day, 
however,  came  the  touch  of  Nature's  magic,  and,  yield- 
ing to  the  mysterious  impulse,  the  winged  creatures 
broke  into  song.    A  big  jump  from  the  croak  of  the 


74  THE  MAGIC  OF  GEACE 

archseopteryx,  partly  bird,  partly  reptile,  partly  fish, 
to  the  blackbird  making  the  orchard  melodious,  the 
lark  singing  at  heaven's  gate,  or  the  nightingale  filling 
the  night  with  music!  This  is  precisely  the  kind  of 
inspiration  we  want ;  and  this  "  the  new  creature  in 
Christ  Jesus  "  gets.  The  touch  of  the  Perfect  Man 
harmonizes  all  the  chords  of  our  nature,  attunes  us  to 
the  eternal  music  of  love  and  righteousness,  whilst  the 
grosser  music  of  the  natural  life  passes  into  a  higher 
strain.  There  is  little  real  music  in  the  unregenerate 
world,  as  there  was  little  in  the  geological  age;  it  is 
full  of  sad  discords  and  dirges  expressing  the  funda- 
mental anarchy  of  human  nature,  but  that  anarchy  be- 
ing abolished  in  the  love  of  God  the  Father  and  in 
His  Son  Jesus  Christ,  sweet  concord  is  restored  to 
society,  and  the  world  is  filled  with  more  than  fabled 
music.  "  The  ransomed  of  the  Lord  shall  return,  and 
come  with  singing  unto  Zion ;  and  everlasting  joy  shall 
be  upon  their  heads:  they  shall  obtain  gladness  and 
joy,  and  sorrow  and  sighing  shall  flee  away  '*  (Isa. 
35:10). 

Finally,  scientists  are  persuaded  more  or  less  that 
in  the  distant  past,  the  twilight  age,  there  was  a  fore- 
runner of  ours  whom  they  designate  as  the  "  almost- 
man,"  an  ambiguous  creature,  one  largely  brutish, 
smothered  by  animalism.  But  we  know  the  hour 
struck  when  the  Creator  Spirit  breathed  into  this  un- 
promising vesture,  whatever  it  may  have  been,  and 
man  became  a  living  soul,  spiritual,  divine,  immortal. 
"  And  the  Lord  God  formed  man  of  the  dust  of  the 
ground,  and  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of 
life;  and  man  became  a  living  soul"  (Gen.  2:7). 
What  a  leap  from  Caliban  in  the  marsh  to  Plato, 
Homer,  Shakespeare,  to  Moses,  Isaiah,  St.  Paul,  St. 


THE  MAGIC  OF  GRACE  75 

John!  This  is  the  breath  we  need  once  again;  and 
by  this  breath  divine  in  Christ  Jesus  are  we  raised  out 
of  the  mind  of  the  flesh,  which  is  death,  into  the  mind 
of  the  Spirit,  which  is  hfe  and  peace.  Henceforth  we 
are  conscious  of  the  besetting  God ;  we  behold  the  un- 
seen and  eternal;  the  fleshly  and  temporal  are  under 
our  feet.  To  break  away  from  the  dominion  of  the 
secular  and  sensual  and  enter  upon  the  spiritualization 
of  life  is  to  know  the  mightiest  change  of  which  we 
may  conceive.  We  have  found  the  real  meaning,  the 
larger  meaning,  of  time  and  sense,  of  history  and  ex- 
perience, of  life  and  death.  Liberated  from  the  blind- 
ing, cramping,  dishonoring  mastery  of  the  senses,  we 
rejoice  in  the  visions,  powers,  and  felicities  of  an  end- 
less life.  "  Howbeit  that  is  not  first  which  is  spiritual, 
but  that  which  is  natural ;  then  that  which  is  spiritual  " 
(iCor.  15:46). 

Breathe  on  me,  breath  of  God, 

Till  I  am  wholly  Thine, 
Until  this  earthly  part  of  me 

Glows  with  Thy  fire  divine. 

Whatever  is  truly  natural,  legitimate,  rational  in  hu- 
man personality,  circumstance,  and  society  is  purged 
by  grace  from  all  grossness,  and  the  once  flowerless, 
songless,  soulless  life  becomes  large,  rich,  complete, 
satisfying. 

"  The  old  things  are  passed  away ;  behold  they  are 
become  new."  Not  a  partial  transfiguration,  but  one 
of  the  whole  personality,  environment,  and  experi- 
ence. Everything  is  brightened  within  the  man,  as  if 
Nature  had  been  melted  down  and  recoined,  and,  as  the 
inevitable  sequence,  the  all-encircling  world  acquires 
new  import  and  charm.     Every  man's  world  is  a  re- 


76  THE  MAGIC  OF  GRACE 

flection  of  himself;  the  environment  a  mirror  that 
flashes  back  upon  the  consciousness  our  own  image. 
If  we  are  handsome,  it  congratulates  us;  if  we  are  not, 
it  frankly  tells  us  the  truth.  To  the  large-minded 
everything  is  great,  to  the  scientific  marvellous,  to  the 
artistic  beautiful;  whilst,  on  the  contrary,  to  the  in- 
curious, the  mean,  the  sordid,  everything  is  more  or 
less  prosaic,  coarse,  or  ugly.  It  is  the  same  morally. 
To  the  spiritually-minded  the  whole  sphere  of  con- 
templation, duty,  and  experience  is  invested  with  deep- 
est interest,  and  life  signifies  solemn  obligation,  pure 
pleasure,  enthralling  promise. 

"  Behold ! "  Archimedes,  startled  by  a  flash  of  il- 
lumination, cried  out  in  wonder  and  joy,  "  I  have 
found  it !  I  have  found  it ! "  And  after  many  cen- 
turies we  continue  to  understand  the  rapture  of  his 
glad  surprise.  But  that  discovery  is  negligible  com- 
pared with  the  soul's  awakening  to  the  treasures  of 
wisdom  and  knowledge  in  Christ  Jesus.  The  believer 
has  found,  so  far  as  his  personal  duty  and  peace  are 
concerned,  the  key  to  the  riddle  of  the  universe;  he 
is  rid  of  the  weary  weight  of  an  unintelligible  world; 
he  has  seen  the  high  and  gracious  design  of  its  burdens, 
sorrows,  mysteries;  and  marvels  with  a  deep  content. 
His  conscience  ceases  to  accuse,  the  heart  is  at  rest, 
the  understanding  is  satisfied,  and  the  star  of  a  great 
hope  relieves  the  darkness  of  the  sad  days  that  come 
to  all.  Nature,  revelation,  society,  domesticity,  yea, 
even  the  common  tasks,  display  new  forms  and  colors 
to  interest  and  delight.  In  the  first  gush  of  Christian 
light  and  joy  the  happy  convert  "  thought  that  all  the 
sign-boards  had  been  freshly  painted  " ;  so  does  the 
"  marvellous  light  "of  Christ  make  even  the  drudgery 
and  commonplace  of  life  to  shine,  as  the  pillar  of  fire 


THE  MAGIC  OF  GKACE  W 

burnished  every  stick  and  stone  of  the  wilderness.  A 
new  heaven  and  new  earth  without  a  new  heart  would 
be  all  in  vain ;  but  given  the  new  heart,  a  new  heaven 
and  earth  naturally  unfold;  the  mineral  becomes 
diamond,  brass  mellows  into  gold,  the  wayside  weed 
flowers,  the  meteor  changes  into  a  star,  and,  more 
wonderful  this  time  than  even  the  miracle  of  Cana,  the 
water  changes  into  wine.  "  Moreover  the  light  of  the 
moon  shall  be  as  the  light  of  the  sun,  and  the  light  of 
the  sun  shall  be  sevenfold,  as  the  light  of  seven  days, 
in  the  day  that  the  Lord  bindeth  up  the  hurt  of  His 
people,  and  healeth  the  stroke  of  their  wound  "  (Isa. 
30:26). 

II.  The  Creator. — "  If  any  man  is  in  Christ,  he 
is  a  new  creature."  Creation  is  strictly  the  work  of 
God.  "  In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heaven  and 
the  earth."  We  always  find  Him  at  the  beginning. 
When  once  the  creative  act  has  taken  place,  we  can 
adapt,  modify,  develop;  but  that  "the  worlds  have 
been  framed  by  the  word  of  God,  so  that  what  is  seen 
hath  not  been  made  out  of  things  which  do  appear," 
is  a  declaration  that  receives  the  consent  of  faith  and 
philosophy.  As  the  living  God  stands  at  the  origin 
of  the  physical  order,  so  does  He  dominate  the  moral 
order.  Nothing  can  be  wrought  satisfactorily  in  char- 
acter and  experience  except  the  divine  grace  first  im- 
plant in  us  the  principle  of  a  new  life.  When  once  the 
word  is  implanted  which  is  able  to  save  the  soul,  we 
must  become  co-workers  with  God  in  the  care  and  de- 
velopment of  the  inborn  word,  therefore  the  divine 
charge  came  to  Israel,  "  Make  you  a  new  heart  and  a 
new  spirit  "  (Ezek.  18:  31).  Yet  it  remains  true  that 
all  real  regeneration  of  character  is  primarily  the  work 
of  God  in  the  penitent  and  receptive  heart.     We  can- 


78  THE  MAGIC  OF  GEACE 

not  banish  the  foul,  command  the  pure,  and  realize  the 
desired  perfection.  As  Wesley  affirms,  "  Only  the 
power  that  makes  a  world  can  make  a  Christian.'* 

Deep  thinkers  in  all  generations  have  perceived  that 
character  can  be  fundamentally  changed  only  by  a 
supernatural  operation.  Socrates  taught  that  virtue 
is  not  really  teachable,  and  proceeds  to  explain,  "  If  a 
man  has  a  young  horse  to  be  broken  or  trained,  he 
finds  without  difficulty  a  professed  trainer,  thoroughly 
conversant  with  the  habits  of  the  race,  to  communi- 
cate to  the  animal  the  excellence  required;  but  whom 
can  he  find  to  teach  virtue  to  his  sons,  with  the  like 
preliminary  knowledge,  and  assured  result?'*  And 
he  concludes  that  "virtue  is  vouchsafed  or  withheld 
according  to  the  special  volition  and  grace  of  the 
gods."  *  And  the  modern  philosopher,  Schopenhauer, 
agrees  with  the  ancient.  "  We  must  finally  make  up 
our  minds  to  see  that,  as  regards  its  chief  character- 
istic and  its  inner  nature,  virtue,  like  genius,  is  to  a 
certain  extent  inborn;  and  that  just  as  little  as  all  the 
professors  of  aesthetics  could  impart  to  any  one  the 
power  of  producing  works  of  genius,  so  little  could  all 
the  professors  of  ethics  and  preachers  of  virtue  trans- 
form an  ignoble  into  a  virtuous  and  noble  character, 
the  impossibility  of  which  is  very  much  more  apparent 
than  that  of  turning  lead  into  gold."''  Virtue,  like 
genius,  is  of  supernatural  quality,  and  it  is  as  absurd 
to  expect  that  moral  systems  will  produce  virtuous, 
noble,  and  holy  men,  as  that  our  aesthetics  will  produce 
poets,  painters,  and  musicians.  Candid  writers  are 
free  to  confess  that  we  cannot  change  the  essential  bias 
of  our  nature ;  and  inasmuch  as  that  is  the  main  thing, 

*Grote,  History  of  Greece,  vol.  vii.,  p.  il6. 
*  The  World  as  Will  and  Idea,  vol.  ii.,  p.  149. 


,  THE  MAGIC  OF  GKACE  79 

anything  else  is  of  slight  consideration.  Finally,  the 
greatest  Teacher  of  all  in  a  few  cleaving  words  puts 
dispute  out  of  question;  "That  which  is  born  of  the 
flesh  is  flesh;  and  that  which  is  born  of  the  Spirit  is 
spirit.  Marvel  not  that  I  said  unto  thee.  Ye  must  be 
born  anew  "  (John  3:  6,  7). 

"  Nicodemus  answered  and  said  unto  Him :  How 
can  these  things  be  ?  "  It  is  remarkable  how  the  latest 
philosophy  supplies  an  answer  to  doubt,  and  admits 
the  possibility  and  reasonableness  of  this  new  creation. 
It  teaches  that  "  in  organic  evolution  an  impulse  causes 
the  upspringing  of  a  new  form  incommensurable  with 
its  antecedents."  It  designs  to  make  clear  the  exist- 
ence of  "  A  Reality  which  Creates,"  that  is,  of  a  God 
who  creates,  who  is  free,  and  whose  creative  effort  is 
continued  in  the  evolution  of  species  and  in  the  con- 
stitution of  human  personalities.  Bergson's  doctrine 
of  the  impulse  of  life  has  been  interpreted  as  the  idea 
of  a  living  God  in  a  living  Church  enduring  in  con- 
tinual new  creation.'  Once  more  philosophy  seems  to 
lend  such  sanction  as  is  possible  to  it  to  a  mystery  of 
our  faith.  But  in  the  experience  of  ten  thousand  times 
ten  thousand  we  have  a  surer  witness  to  the  reality  of 
conversion  than  in  any  speculative  system.  "  Blessed 
be  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who 
according  to  His  great  mercy  begat  us  again  unto  a 
living  hope  by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  from 
the  dead"  (1  Pet.  1:3). 

Yes,  this  creative  power  is  realized  in  the  doctrine, 
grace,  and  fellowship  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  eternal 
Son  in  revelation  is  made  known  as  the  Creator  of 
the  material  universe.  According  to  St.  John,  "  All 
things  were  made  by  Him ;  and  without  Him  was  not 
*  Dr.  Wildon  Carr. 


80  THE  MAGIC  OF  GKACE 

anything  made  that  hath  been  made"  (1^3).  St. 
Paul  testifies,  *'  God  created  all  things  by  Jesus  Christ " 
(3:  9),  whilst  the  writer  of  t'.e  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
reminds  us  that  God  hath  spoken  unto  us  in  His  Son, 
"  whom  He  appointed  Heir  of  all  things,  through 
whom  also  He  made  the  worlds"  (1:  S).  So  onc6 
more  Omnipotence  is  expressed  in  the  Divine  Son; 
He  who  made  the  world  makes  the  Christian.  "  But 
all  things  are  of  God,  who  reconciled  us  to  Himself 
through  Christ"  (3  Cor.  5:  18).  "For  we  are  His 
workmanship,  created  in  Christ  Jesus  for  good  works" 
(Eph.  2:  10).  The  saving,  uplifting,  transfiguring 
grace  is  vouchsafed  in  Him,  and  nowhere  else  is  the 
secret  found  of  a  new  nature  and  a  new  life.  Here 
lies  our  hope  for  the  realization  of  the  aspirations 
whose  gleam  lures  us  on,  and  secretly  comforts  us 
amid  mysteries  and  sorrows.  Heartily  trusting  in  the 
Lord  Jesus  as  the  world^s  Saviour  and  ours,  enjoying 
daily  fellowship  with  Him,  drinking  into  His  Spirit, 
and  following  in  His  footsteps,  the  old  man  dies  out, 
and,  "  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  our  mind,"  we  "  put  on 
the  new  man,  which  after  God  hath  been  created  in 
righteousness  and  holiness  of  truth  "  (Eph.  4:  24). 


VI 

THE  TRIUMPH  OF  THE  SPRING' 

Until  the  Spirit  be  poured  upon  us  from  on  high,  and  the 
wilderness  become  a  fruitful  field,  and  the  fruitful  field  be 
counted  for  a  forest. — Isaiah  32 :  15. 

AS  special  privileges  of  various  kinds  have  been 
granted  to  the  several  ages  and  nations,  the 
special  privilege  of  these  latter  days  is  the  gift, 
in  a  surpassing  measure,  of  that  spiritual  power  by 
virtue  of  which  our  highest  hopes  can  alone  be  realized. 
In  all  ages  the  Spirit  of  God  has  been  active,  working 
out  His  will  and  purpose,  but  in  the  fullness  of  the 
times  He  has  revealed  Himself  in  plenary  majesty 
and  power.  All  terrestrial  conditions  being  ripe  for 
His  advent,  our  Lord  appeared  full  of  truth  and  grace ; 
and  with  His  ascension  into  heaven  the  world  was 
prepared  for  the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit  of  illumina- 
tion, holiness,  and  power.  Such  is  the  dispensation  in 
which  it  is  our  privilege  and  joy  to  live.  Our  Lord 
has  opened  up  to  the  race  new  springs  of  spiritual  life, 
new  sources  of  divine  power,  new  fountains  of  light, 
purity,  and  blessedness.  This  was  the  substance  of  the 
great  promise  that  He  gave  to  His  disciples,  not  in 
His  parting  hours  only,  but  throughout  His  ministry ; 
and  how  amply  it  was  fulfilled  is  demonstrated  by  the 
preaching  and  writings  of  the  apostles.  Let  us,  then, 
ponder,  for  our  consolation  and  inspiration,  the  mean- 

*  Preached  on  Whit-Sunday. 
81 


82         THE  TKIUMPH  OF  THE  SPKING 

ing  of  this  sublime  gift  of  the  ascended  Lord  to  His 
Church  on  earth. 

I.  We  remind  ourselves  of  our  absolute  dependence 
upon  the  Spirit  of  God  for  the  inspirations  and  in- 
fluences which  secure  man's  highest  welfare.  In  the 
very  striking  prophecy  recorded  in  this  chapter  Isaiah 
refers  to  a  period  when,  owing  to  its  disloyalty,  Judah 
was  reduced  to  a  condition  of  extreme  exhaustion  and 
distress.  "  Upon  the  land  of  My  people  shall  come 
up  thorns  and  briars;  yea,  upon  all  the  houses  of  joy 
in  the  joyous  city."  And  this  unhappy  condition  of 
things  was  to  continue  "  until  the  Spirit  be  poured 
upon  us  from  on  high."  Then  everything  was  to  be 
blessedly  changed.  "  Judgment  shall  dwell  in  the 
wilderness,  and  righteousness  remain  in  the  fruitful 
field.  And  the  work  of  righteousness  shall  be  peace; 
and  the  effect  of  righteousness,  quietness  and  assur- 
ance for  ever.  And  My  people  shall  dwell  in  a  peace- 
able habitation,  and  in  sure  dwellings,  and  in  quiet 
resting  places."  Everything  turned  upon  the  pouring 
out  of  "  the  Spirit  from  on  high."  The  central  idea 
implied  in  this  prophecy  is  that  we  are  just  as  de- 
pendent upon  God  for  the  influences  which  vitalize  the 
intellectual  and  spiritual  life  of  man  as  the  fields  are 
dependent  upon  the  sunlight  and  the  shower. 

1.  The  dependence  of  the  material  world  upon  the 
spiritual  universe  in  which  it  lies  embosomed  is  being 
more  and  more  recognized  by  serious  naturalists.  As 
Professor  Simpson  observes,  "  Life  is  something  more 
than  the  raw  materials  it  employs."  *  And  life  is  not 
merely  "  something  more  "  than  the  raw  material  it 
employs ;  in  its  nature  and  grandeur  it  is  unspeakably 
beyond  the  crude  matter  through  and  by  which  it  op- 
*  Spiritual  Interpretation  of  Nature,  p.  15. 


THE  TEIUMPH  OF  THE  SPEESTG         83 

crates.  Professor  J.  Arthur  Thomson  gives  this  fact 
bold  expression.  "  A  tree  contains  more  mystery  of 
creative  power  than  the  sun  from  which  all  its 
mechanical  energy  is  borrowed.  An  earth  without  life, 
a  sun,  and  countless  stars,  contain  less  wonder  than 
that  grain  of  mignonette."  *  Alfred  Russel  Wallace 
bears  emphatic  testimony  to  the  same  effect.  "  The 
modern  scientific  morphologists  seem  to  be  wholly  oc- 
cupied in  tracing  out  the  mechanism  of  organisms,  so 
that  they  hardly  seem  to  appreciate  the  overwhelming 
marvel  of  the  powers  of  life,  which  result  in  such  in- 
finitely varied  structures  and  such  strange  habits  and 
so-called  instincts.  The  older  I  grow  the  more  mar- 
vellous seem  to  me  the  mere  variety  of  form  and  habit 
in  plants  and  animals,  and  the  unerring  certitude  with 
which,  from  a  minute  germ,  the  whole  complex  organ- 
ism is  built  up,  true  to  the  type  of  its  kind  in  all  the 
infinitude  of  details."  And  this  "  life  "  he  recognizes 
as  the  manifestation  of  a  divine  energy.  "  In  my  early 
unregenerate  days  I  used  to  think  that  only  material 
forces  and  natural  laws  were  operative  throughout 
the  v/orld.  But  these  I  now  see  are  hopelessly  inade- 
quate to  explain  this  mystery  and  wonder  and  variety 
of  life.  I  am,  as  you  know,  absolutely  convinced  that 
behind  and  beyond  all  elementary  processes  there  is  a 
guiding  and  directive  force;  a  divine  power  or  hier- 
archy of  powers,  ever  controlling  these  processes,  so 
that  thev  are  tending  to  more  abundant  and  to  higher 
types  o/life."' 

In  the  beginning  the  "  Spirit  of  God  moved  on  the 
face  of  the  waters,"  evoking  the  beautiful  world ;  and 
still  He  broods  over  earth  and  sea,  calling  forth  fresh 

*  Introduction  to  Science. 

*  Letters  and  Reminiscences,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  54,  248. 


84         THE  TEIUMPH  OF  THE  SPHmG 

forms  of  life  and  loveliness.  Not  only  by  His  aid 
were  the  world's  foundations  laid,  but  He  is  immanent 
in  the  whole  creation;  and  its  successive  stages,  with 
their  appropriate  garniture  of  glory,  are  His  incom- 
parable artistry.  The  splendor  of  the  world  on  which 
we  look  to-day  is  the  outshining  of  the  indwelling 
Spirit,  without  whom  the  standing  miracle  of  earth 
and  sky  must  sink  into  chaos.  There  are  not  two 
Spirits  of  God,  one  working  in  Nature  and  the  other 
in  the  rational  realm ;  but  one  and  the  selfsame  Spirit 
creates  the  glorious  things  which  enrich  both.  The 
manifold  wealth  of  Nature  flowing  upon  us  every  hour 
is  contingent  upon  His  ceaseless  action. 

How  the  growing  doctrine  of  the  spirituality  of 
Nature  makes  some  of  our  great  beliefs  more  intel- 
ligible, and  silently  does  away  with  difficulties  which 
have  perplexed  many !  When  matter  was  regarded  as 
so  much  mechanism  regulated  by  obstinate  laws  of  its 
own,  it  was  difficult  to  think  of  it  as  responsive  to  the 
behests  of  the  moral  ruler  of  the  world,  or  as  affected 
by  the  thoughts,  conduct,  and  prayers  of  men;  but 
when  understood  as  a  spiritual  system,  responsive  to 
the  mind  of  God  and  men,  it  is  easy  to  think  of  it  as 
expressing  the  Almighty  design,  and  as  determined  by 
the  obedience  or  disobedience  of  mankind.  How  ra- 
tional and  credible  the  appeal  of  the  apostles  to  the 
men  of  Lystra!  "Ye  should  turn  from  these  vain 
things  unto  the  living  God,  who  made  the  heaven  and 
the  earth  and  the  sea,  and  all  that  in  them  is:  .  .  . 
who  left  not  Himself  without  witness,  in  that  He  did 
good,  and  gave  you  from  heaven  rains  and  fruitful 
seasons,  filling  your  hearts  with  food  and  gladness  " 
(Acts  14:  15,  17).  And  that  a  spiritual  Being  should 
resent  the  conduct  of  the  disobedient,  while  He  re- 


THE  TEIUMPH  OF  THE  SPKING  85 

spends  to  the  prayers  of  the  faithful,  is  in  keeping  with 
reason  and  experience.  The  trembling  strings  of  the 
mighty  lyre  respond  to  the  touch  of  God  and  man. 
The  world  is  ours  as  we  are  God's. 

2.  Again,  mark  how  the  Supreme  keeps  intellectual 
gifts  in  His  ozvn  hands,  and  how  pathetically  help- 
less we  are  when  those  gifts  are  withheld.  We  repeat 
a  thousand  times  over  the  axiom  that  "  poets  are  born, 
not  made,"  which  is  only  another  way  of  saying  that 
God  reserves  genius  of  all  types  in  His  own  hands, 
kindling  the  vital  spark  with  sovereign  freedom  when 
and  where  He  wills,  and  usually  where  we  least  ex- 
pect. If  the  Eternal  Spirit  fails  to  bestow  original 
and  splendid  faculties,  we  cannot  create  such.  Educa- 
tion does  not  supply  genius.  Ours  is  an  age  of  popular 
and  earnest  culture,  and  yet  the  critics  loudly  complain 
that  our  literature  is  a  quotation,  our  art  an  imitation, 
our  eloquence  an  affectation,  our  music  and  poetry  an 
echo.  This  verdict  may  be  too  severe ;  but  whilst  edu- 
cation is  essential  to  bring  out  whatever  gifts  are  ours 
by  nature,  it  is  sufficiently  manifest  that  education 
creates  no  intellectual  revival.  A  new  science  now  ap- 
pears, known  as  "  eugenics,"  its  design  being  the  crea- 
tion of  a  superior  type  of  mankind.  According  to 
Nietzsche,  "  Humanity  should  constantly  propose  to 
itself  the  production  of  men  of  genius."  No  doubt  a 
most  interesting  vocation,  yet  one  hardly  promising 
dazzling  results.  Hitherto  the  cleverest  chemists  have 
failed  in  the  attempt  to  fabricate  synthetic  pearls  and 
diamonds,  and  the  undertaking  is  far  more  hopeless 
to  evolve  mental  Koh-i-noors  of  the  magnitude  and 
water  of  Plato,  Shakespeare,  Newton,  or  Shelley.  We 
can  never  create  genius,  nor  can  we  regard  it  as  a 
**  lucky  bubble  of  the  pot  of  protoplasm."    If  anything 


86         THE  TRIUMPH  OF  THE  SPRIKG 

is  certain,  it  is  that  every  good  gift  and  every  perfect 
boon  is  from  above,  coming  down  from  the  Father  of 
lights,  and  no  skill  on  our  part  in  attempting  the  pro- 
duction of  intellectual  eminence  will  ever  render  us 
independent  of  the  sovereign  Spirit  of  knowledge,  wis- 
dom, and  power.  "  There  is  a  spirit  in  man,  and  the 
breath  of  the  Almighty  giveth  them  understanding  ** 
(Job  32:  8).  All  intellectual  gifts  are  of  supernatural 
origin  and  essence;  and  in  this  matter  we  are  wholly 
in  the  hands  of  God,  who  alone  can  convert  an  age  of 
intellectual  barrenness  into  an  epoch  of  surpassing 
vision  and  fertility. 

3.  It  is  certainly  not  less  true  that  our  moral  and 
spiritual  life  are  dependent  upon  the  vivifying  in- 
fiuence  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  main  theme  of  the 
prophet  in  the  chapter  before  us  is  righteousness — its 
nature,  its  working,  its  effect;  and  his  argument  is 
designed  to  show  that  the  creation,  energy,  and  prev- 
alence of  righteousness  are  strictly  consequent  upon 
the  presence  and  operation  of  His  Spirit  who  is  glori- 
ous in  holiness.  The  effort  of  certain  moralists,  which 
is  being  continually  repeated,  to  sever  morality  from 
spirituality,  goodness  from  godliness,  can  only  succeed 
at  the  expense  of  morality  itself.  If  the  naturalist  is 
constrained  to  acknowledge  the  operation  of  a  super- 
natural force  to  account  for  the  persistence  and  per- 
fection of  phenomena;  and  the  philosopher  is  per- 
suaded of  the  transcendental  character  of  genius;  the 
religious  moralist  stands  on  no  debatable  ground  who 
maintains  that  a  well-ordered  life  must  be  based  upon 
the  affections,  conscience,  and  will,  and  that  these 
faculties  derive  their  efficacy  from  the  indwelling 
Spirit  of  God. 

Outside  the   religious   sphere   it   is  always  being 


THE  TKIUMPH  OF  THE  SPKING  87 

argued  that  art  is  dependent  upon  a  spiritual  super- 
natural element  without  which  it  rapidly  degenerates 
into  formality — indeed,  ceases  to  be  worthy  of  the  name 
of  art.  It  must  be  inbreathed,  not  a  matter  of  calcu- 
lation, industry,  elaboration.  Mozart  could  not  tell 
how  he  made  a  tune ;  even  a  whole  symphony,  he  said, 
unrolled  itself  out  of  a  leading  idea  by  no  logical  proc- 
ess. Keats  said  that  no  poetry  was  worth  anything 
unless  it  came  spontaneously,  as  leaves  on  a  tree.  And 
Edward  FitzGerald  tells  how  he  had  no  faith  in  works 
of  art  done  on  theory  and  principle.  All  the  greatest 
artists  are  at  one  in  recognizing  the  mysterious  force 
whose  expression  is  the  immortal  drama,  statue,  poem, 
or  symphony.  They  marvel  at  their  own  creativeness, 
and  know  well  that  when  the  inspiration  ceases  the 
magic  of  their  work  ceases.  The  wind  bloweth  where 
it  listeth ;  they  dimly  comprehend  its  nature,  and  know 
not  whence  it  cometh  nor  whither  it  goeth.  We  accept 
the  greatest  literature  and  art  as  a  mere  matter  of 
course ;  but  a  divinity  shines  through  it  more  brightly 
than  through  the  fairest  forms  and  sweetest  music  of 
the  material  creation.  How  much  more,  then,  is  the 
operation  of  the  Divine  Spirit  essential  if  the  moral 
life  is  to  reach  the  ideal !  If  the  perfection  of  artistry, 
eloquence,  and  music  demand  the  spiritual  impulse,  can 
we  hope  to  acquire  sublimest  virtues,  to  work  noblest 
deeds,  to  fulfil  the  highest  duties  of  life,  without  that 
availing  impulse?  What  are  our  works  but  "dead 
works  "  whilst  they  lack  this  vital  spark  ?  And  how 
impossible  for  our  utilitarian  morals  to  become  the 
holiness  of  truth,  without  the  breath  of  God !  If  law- 
givers, psalmists,  and  prophets  needed  inspiration  to 
declare  the  laws  of  the  Kingdom,  how  much  more  do 
we  need  the  heavenly   power  to  keep  them!     The 


88         THE  TKIUMPH  OF  THE  SPKIISTG 

righteousness  that  avails  is  a  living  righteousness; 
deeply  rooted  in  faith  in  God,  in  the  love  and  power  of 
God,  and  daily  inspired  anew  by  His  fellowship.  By 
the  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  the  motions  of  the 
flesh  are  annulled,  the  inertia  and  enmity  of  the  mind 
of  the  flesh  overcome,  and  all  fruits  of  light  brought 
to  rare  perfection.  We  cannot  suspend  our  fellow- 
ship with  the  eternal  righteousness  of  the  living  God 
without  fatal  consequences  to  conscience,  character, 
and  duty.  The  force  and  fire  of  intellectual  and  moral 
life  are  of  supernatural  genesis  and  essence,  and  will 
not  long  survive  severance  from  their  native  source. 

n.  That  the  Spirit  of  God  reveals  Himself  in  ex- 
ceptional communications  of  richness  and  power  at 
special  times  and  seasons  is  another  important  truth 
to  be  remembered  for  our  instruction.  "  Until  the 
Spirit  is  poured  upon  us."  We  think  of  the  Day  of 
Pentecost  as  an  altogether  unique  phenomenon;  yet  it 
is  not  so,  but  one  according  to  the  analogy  of  the  di- 
vine government  as  conducted  from  the  beginning. 

1.  Science  shows  that  in  the  development  of  the 
creation  there  were  what,  without  fanci  fulness,  may 
be  described  as  natural  Pentecosts.  At  certain  dis- 
tinctive periods  the  Divine  Worker  revealed  His  power 
and  glory  in  an  extraordinary  manner.  The  day  when 
Nature  proceeded  from  the  inorganic  to  living  organ- 
isms; when  mere  sensation  passed  into  consciousness 
and  reflection ;  when  raucous  cries  resolved  themselves 
into  musical  speech — these  and  other  memorable  tran- 
sitions were  truly  Pentecostal,  splendid  outbursts  of 
the  eternal  wisdom  and  power.  Tongues  of  fire 
descended,  ethereal  sparks  flashed  through  the  dark- 
ness, quickening  the  dull  clay  into  forms  of  grace, 
gifting  those  forms  with  intelligence,  inspiring  them 


THE  TRIUMPH  OF  THE  SPEING  89 

with  delight.  Seasons  of  upUfting,  inbreathing,  illu- 
minating, glorifying,  were  those  initial  days  through 
all  the  natural  sphere. 

And  these  times  of  the  revelation  of  the  divine 
glory  were  not  confined  to  the  creative  age ;  they  con- 
tinue to  assert  themselves,  sporadically  shining  forth. 
Take  this  passage  from  the  recent  work  of  a  dis- 
tinguished scientist :  "  This  is  not  very  different  from 
the  attitude  taken  up  by  Dr.  A.  Smith  Woodward  and 
other  palaeontologists:  that  there  is  a  persistent  prog- 
ress of  life  to  a  higher  plane  in  the  successive  geolog- 
ical periods,  and  that  there  is  some  principle  underlying 
this  progress  much  more  fundamental  than  chance 
variation  or  response  to  environment.  There  are  in 
the  life  of  species  sudden  fundamental  advances  which 
an  American  naturalist,  Professor  Edward  Cope, 
called  'expression  points/  and  in  which  he  saw  the 
manifestation  of  some  inscrutable  inherent  life- 
force."  ^  So  the  Creator  Spirit  abides  in  His  creation, 
and  certain  expression  points  of  fundamental  change 
and  advance  testify  to  His  presence,  activity,  and 
glory. 

2.  History  records  ages  of  astonishing  mental  in- 
crement and  achievement  which  may  justly  be  de- 
scribed as  intellectual  Pentecosts.  Such  periods  stand 
out  from  ordinary  times  by  virtue  of  the  number  and 
greatness  of  their  famous  sons.  Greece  in  the  age  of 
Pericles  knew  a  golden  epoch,  the  very  dust  of  which 
is  prized  to-day,  and  will  continue  to  enrich  the  latest 
posterity.  The  Augustan  age  of  Rome  signified  a 
memorable  outburst  of  immortal  genius.  The  Italian 
Renascence  comprehended  a  veritable  milky-way  of 
gifted  spirits  renowned  in  art,  science,  literature,  and 
*Grew,  The  Growth  of  a  Planet,  p.  266. 


90         THE  TKIUMPH  OF  THE  SPBING 

eloquence.  England  is  proud  to  recall  "  the  spacious 
days "  of  Elizabeth,  when  the  stage  was  simply 
crowded  with  superb  actors — statesmen,  dramatists, 
poets,  adventurers,  admirals,  and  commanders.  Dur- 
ing a  few  years  in  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury France  boasted  of  a  brilliant  constellation  of 
poets  and  philosophers;  whilst  Germany  runs  back  to 
fetch  the  age  of  gold  that  produced  Goethe,  Kant, 
Schiller,  and  her  master  musicians.  The  Spirit  of 
God  abides  immanent  in  the  race,  and  the  dullest  gen- 
eration is  relieved  by  a  few  great  souls  that  dwell  apart 
as  solitary  stars ;  but  at  distant  epochs  galaxies  of  rare 
spirits  kindle  the  gray  years  into  noontide  glory,  and 
posterity  is  happy  to  live  in  the  afterglow.  The  abso- 
lute reason,  the  perfect  beauty,  the  eternal  power, 
bursts  the  muddy  vesture,  and  the  nations  are  startled 
by  an  intellectual  splendor  of  a  glory  excelling  all 
former  gifts  of  the  Father  of  lights. 

3.  The  spiritual  Pentecost  recorded  in  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles  need  not,  then,  excite  surprise,  although, 
at  the  first  glance,  it  appears  unique  and  anomalous. 
That  wonderful  day,  with  its  lambent  flame,  its  in- 
toxication of  spiritual  power,  its  enlargement  of 
faculty,  its  ecstasy  of  gladness,  is  strictly  in  keeping 
with  the  divine  method  in  nature  and  history.  It  was 
mysterious,  but  the  Pentecosts  of  Nature  are  mysteri- 
ous ;  it  was  miraculous,  but  the  Pentecosts  of  the  mind 
are  miraculous.  What  a  host  of  richly  gifted  men 
suddenly  emerged !  "  And  it  shall  be  in  the  last  days, 
saith  God,  I  will  pour  forth  of  My  Spirit  upon  all 
flesh;  and  your  sons  and  your  daughters  shall  proph- 
esy, and  your  young  men  shall  see  visions  and  your 
old  men  shall  dream  dreams"  (Acts  2:17).  This 
prophecy  was  suddenly  and  abundantly  fulfilled.     As 


THE  TRIUMPH  OF  THE  SPRING         91 

recorded  by  St.  Paul  in  his  First  Epistle  to  the  Corin- 
thians, a  rich  variety  of  gifts  was  freely  distributed 
amongst  the  members  of  the  Church,  until  it  seemed 
as  though  each  one  bore  the  likeness  of  a  king,  as  if  at 
length  all  God's  people  had  become  prophets.  How 
truly  great  those  primitive  saints  were  is  seen  in  the 
fact  that  their  letters  have  survived  the  ages,  and  that 
their  work  endures  and  grows  whilst  empires  perish. 

Pentecost  was  no  meteoric  flash,  but  the  breaking 
forth  of  a  divine  and  quenchless  flame  destined  to 
purify  humanity  and  to  convert  the  world  into  a 
temple.  Profound,  vast,  and  permanent  were  its  sav- 
ing and  hallowing  effects.  The  Spirit  of  God  awoke 
the  lethargic  spirituality  of  the  multitude.  Our  Lord 
had  propounded  an  impossible  moral  ideal,  which  was 
now  to  be  triumphantly  realized.  Conventional  re- 
ligion took  fire.  The  prose  of  ecclesiastical  morality 
rose  into  the  poetry  of  holiness.  Ordinary  character 
was  ennobled  into  saintliness.  The  heart  of  the  bigot, 
strangely  warmed,  grew  big  as  the  world.  The  un- 
known became  well  known.  Timid  men  and  women 
sprang  into  heroic  stature,  and  as  martyrs  vanished  in 
a  blaze  of  glory.  The  mighty  event  of  Pentecost  was 
not  an  aberrant  event,  out  of  keeping  with  the  ordinary 
course  of  nature  and  history;  and  no  other  revelation 
of  divine  energy  may  compare  with  it.  No  revelation 
of  the  sovereign  will  in  the  evolution  of  Nature,  no 
sudden  accession  of  magnificent  intellectual  power  to 
an  elect  nation,  can  parallel  in  its  immense  significance 
the  powers  and  gifts  of  Pentecost;  in  its  nature  and 
consequences  it  eclipses  every  other  express  interven- 
tion of  heaven  for  the  enrichment  of  mankind.  The 
opulence  of  moral  and  spiritual  power  it  brings  to 
such  as  are  ripe  for  it  is  one  of  the  capital  facts  in  the 


92  THE  TRIUMPH  OF  THE  SPRING 

history  of  the  race.  The  former  dispensation  has  no 
glory  by  reason  of  the  glory  that  excelleth;  and  the 
glory  of  the  latter  days  is  found  in  our  possession  of 
such  abundance  of  spiritual  grace  that  the  highest 
reaches  of  life  and  destiny  have  become  accessible  to 
all  believers. 

These  extraordinary  revelations  of  spiritual  power 
are  not  to  be  considered  as  confined  to  the  Apostolic 
Age.  We  have  just  seen  that  whilst  scientists  recog- 
nize in  geological  periods  "  a  persistent  progress  of  life 
to  a  higher  plane,"  they  also  recognize  in  "  the  life  of 
species  sudden  fundamental  advances,"  "  expression 
points,"  in  which  the  underlying  inscrutable  force 
conspicuously  declares  itself.  What  are  the  wonder- 
ful revivals  which  periodically  gladden  the  Church  but 
such  "  sudden  fundamental  advances,"  "  expression 
points,"  in  which  the  Spirit  of  God  demonstrates  Him- 
self in  the  kingdom  of  souls  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
excite  the  attention  and  wonder  of  mankind?  As  a 
rule,  the  indwelling  Spirit  works  silently,  and  is  re- 
vealed only  in  "  the  persistent "  moral  progress  of  the 
race ;  but  ever  and  anon,  "  suddenly  there "  comes 
"  from  heaven  a  sound  as  of  the  rushing  of  a  mighty 
wind,"  filling  the  Church,  shaking  the  world. 
"  Awake,  O  north  wind ;  and  come,  thou  south ;  blow 
upon  my  garden,  that  the  spices  thereof  may  flow  out  " 
(Song  of  Songs  4:  16). 

We  conclude  with  two  reflections: 

One  great  consolation  arising  out  of  this  visitation 
of  the  Spirit  relates  to  our  personal  experience.  The 
will  of  God  is  even  our  sanctification,  our  moral  per- 
fection, and  the  will  of  the  believer  is  fixed  on  the 
attainment  of  the  same  ideal;  but  its  realization  is  a 
question  of  indwelling  power,  of  which  too  often  we 


THE  TKIUMPH  OF  THE  SPEING         93 

are  deficient.  With  many  the  upward  path  implies 
constant  anxiety,  fretfulness,  strain;  the  noble  ambi- 
tion of  attaining  the  **  goal  unto  the  prize  of  the  up- 
ward calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus "  involves  so 
much  fatiguing  endeavor,  doubtful  progress,  disheart- 
ening failure,  that  the  spiritual  life,  so  far  from  being 
one  of  joy  fulness,  is  little  more  than  a  protracted,  pain- 
ful, and  dubious  striving.  This  is  not,  however,  the 
scriptural  ideal  of  the  growth  in  grace,  and  it  is  to  be 
explained  only  by  the  lack  of  a  more  vigorous  inward 
life.  John  Ruskin  writes  concerning  art:  "  Is  not  the 
evidence  of  ease  on  the  very  front  of  all  the  greatest 
works  in  existence  ?  Do  they  not  say  plainly  to  us,  not 
*  There  has  been  a  great  effort  here,'  but  '  There  has 
been  a  great  power  here '  ?  "  This  is  equally  true  in 
relation  to  surpassing  Christian  character.  The  com- 
pletest  and  purest  life  is  not  the  result  of  irksome  ef- 
fort, but  an  expression  of  power ;  they  who  charm  us 
most  are  not  those  who  show  signs  of  tension,  but 
those  on  whose  "  very  front "  is  the  evidence  of  ease. 
Strong  motive,  a  firm  faith,  warm  affection,  the  full 
assurance  of  hope  exclude  morbid  strenuousness,  and 
make  ideal  saints.  "  Consider  the  lilies  of  the  field, 
how  they  grow;  they  toil  not,  neither  do  they  spin: 
yet  I  say  unto  you,  that  even  Solomon  in  all  his  glory 
was  not  arrayed  like  one  of  these  "  (Matt.  6:  28,  29). 
If,  then,  we  are  to  be  free  from  consuming  care  in  the 
worldly  life,  we  ought  to  be  no  less  so  in  the  culture 
of  the  soul.  The  mighty  forces  of  infinite  Nature  are 
working  in  the  bulb  of  the  lily,  and  have  made  it  lovely 
and  fragrant  without  more  ado;  and  if  we  thought 
more  of  the  strengthening  of  the  heart  by  the  in- 
dwelling of  the  Almighty  Spirit,  there  would  be  less 
need  or  disposition  to  labor  and  fret,  as  we  so  often 


94         THE  TRIUMPH  OF  THE  SPRING 

do,  about  the  concerns  of  the  soul.  Great  power  dis- 
penses with  painful  effort,  and  life  becomes  assured, 
serene,  victorious.  We  may  all  claim  the  large  grace 
of  Pentecost.  The  apostles  make  it  clear  that  the 
sacred  fire  purifying  the  spirit,  transfiguring  the  life, 
is  no  benediction  confined  to  some  exclusive  circle,  but 
is  promised  to  all  who  seek  it  in  the  fullness  and 
efficacy  of  its  virtue.  The  glorious  work  wrought  in 
the  first  disciples  may  be  wrought  in  us. 

Again,  in  a  richer  baptism  of  the  heavenly  power 
we  become  effective  workers  in  the  kingdom  of  God. 
The  primitive  disciples  waited  until  endued  with  power 
from  on  high,  and  we  effect  little  until  we  become 
spiritualized  instruments  in  the  Master's  hand.  Too 
often  in  our  evangelism  we  trust  more  than  we  ought 
to  our  learning,  machinery,  method,  and  money;  we 
are  rather  concerned  with  the  ritual,  statesmanship, 
and  programme  of  the  Church  than  with  that  interior 
fire  on  which  virtually  all  success  depends.  Wallace, 
as  we  have  seen,  complains  of  "  the  modern  scientific 
morphologists  who  seem  so  wholly  occupied  in  tracing 
out  the  mechanism  of  organisms  that  they  hardly  seem 
to  appreciate  the  overwhelming  marvel  of  the  powers 
of  life."  With  even  greater  plausibility  might  not  a 
similar  criticism  be  passed  on  the  methods  of  the  re- 
ligious sphere?  Ecclesiastical  morphologists  are  so 
wholly  occupied  with  the  mechanism  of  the  Church 
that  they  hardly  seem  to  appreciate  the  overwhelming 
importance  of  the  powers  of  life,  without  which  all 
organization  is  futile.  Wonderful  evangelical  results 
are  attained  with  the  minimum  of  material  and  rou- 
tine; whilst  highly  organized  Churches  only  register 
decline.  We  require  a  real  faith  in  our  creed,  a  joy  in 
worship,  a  Christlike  love  to  men,  an  overpowering 


THE  TKIUMPH  OF  THE  SPKING         95 

sense  of  God's  presence  and  blessing,  and  an  enthusi- 
asm for  the  coming  of  His  kingdom,  if  we  are  to  hail 
a  revival.  All  the  Churches  to-day  need  to' look  more 
longingly  and  believingly  to  the  spiritual  sources.  We 
may  be  confident  that  great  Pentecostal  visitations  will 
yet  burst  forth  upon  the  Church  and  the  world,  when 
a  nation  will  be  born  in  a  day.  It  will  come,  and  we 
know  not  how  nearly  we  stand  to  wonderful  times. 

Are  we  ready  for  them?  Unless  we  have  aspira- 
tion, faith,  receptivity,  the  precious  influences  that  en- 
compass us  are  lost.  The  Sahara  Desert  is  visited  by 
tremendous  rainstorms,  but  is  not  the  better  for  them ; 
not  a  drop  but  descends  in  vain,  for  the  heat  evaporates 
the  rain  before  the  drops  reach  the  sand.  We  may 
live  in  such  an  unsympathetic  state  that  the  rain  and 
dew  of  heaven  leave  us  unrefreshed  and  barren. 
"  They  all  with  one  accord  continued  steadfastly  in 
prayer "  until  the  power  came  upon  them.  In  the 
spirit  of  penitence,  supplication,  expectation,  consecra- 
tion, and  unity  must  we  await  the  heavenly  visitation ; 
and  a  plenteous  rain  shall  fall  in  refreshing,  life-giving 
showers  on  God's  heritage,  and  make  everything  to  live 
that  now  droops  and  dies. 


VII 
THE  INDWELLING  SPIRIT 

For  this  cause  I  how  my  knees  unto  the  Father,  from  whom 
every  family  in  heaven  and  on  earth  is  named,  that  He  would 
grant  you,  according  to  the  riches  of  His  glory,  that  ye  may  he 
strengthened  with  power  through  His  Spirit  in  the  inward  man. — 
Ephksians  3 :  14-16. 

ONE  of  the  most  insistent  cries  of  our  age  is 
for  "  Power,  more  power."  We  are  better 
acquainted  with  the  natural  forces  than  our 
fathers  were,  and  we  avail  ourselves  of  them  to  an 
extent  to  which  they  were  strangers;  yet  the  cry  for 
larger  measures  of  power  does  not  cease,  and  scientists 
are  as  intent  as  ever  upon  discovering  new  sources  of 
energy.  Some  believe  in  the  possibility  of  tapping  the 
earth's  central  heat,  thus  providing  a  perennial  sup- 
ply of  inexhaustible  force.  Others  look  upon  the 
ocean  as  a  vast  reservoir  of  mechanical  power.  Many 
prophesy  that  wind-power  will  become  the  force  of 
the  future ;  whilst  there  is  a  consensus  of  opinion  that 
if  we  could  succeed  in  harnessing  the  energy  of  the 
sun  it  could  be  made  to  perform  all  the  mechanical 
work  of  the  world.  So  we  crave  for  power  to  realize 
the  natural  kingdom;  to  subdue  it,  rule  it,  to  use  and 
enjoy  it.  Yet  is  there  not  another  kind  of  power,  a 
much  superior  kind  that  we  need  far  more  emphat- 
ically than  we  need  any  new  kind  or  degree  of  material 
energy — the  power  to  realize  ourselves,  to  rule  our- 
selves, to  make  possible  to  us  the  glorious  things  of 

96 


THE  INDWELLING  SPIRIT  97 

the  highest  life?  For  a  divine  power  effectual  to 
these  ends  all  serious  souls  sigh:  power  not  from  the 
deep  places  of  the  earth,  but  from  Him  in  whose  hands 
they  are;  not  from  the  sea,  but  from  Him  who  rules 
its  waves;  not  from  the  wind,  but  from  Him  who 
rides  upon  its  wings ;  not  from  the  sun,  but  from  Him 
who  lit  its  fires ;  the  power  of  the  Highest  to  transcend 
our  painful  limitations,  to  subdue  in  us  the  irrational 
element,  and  to  make  us  equal  to  the  sublime  of  char- 
acter and  duty.  This  breath  of  God  is  the  inspiration 
we  covet. 

The  paramount  claim  of  the  New  Testament  is  that 
in  Christ  Jesus  this  power  is  made  ours.  It  brings  us 
a  code  of  conduct  more  complete  and  lofty  than  any 
ethical  code  with  which  it  may  be  compared,  yet  its 
chief  gift  is  that  endowment  of  power  that  makes  pos- 
sible true  holiness  of  spirit  and  of  life.  Sir  W.  M. 
Conway,  in  his  Crossing  of  Spitsbergen,  relates  how 
"  before  midnight  the  sun  shone  brightly,  but  there 
was  no  warmth  in  his  beams.  At  the  same^  altitude 
above  the  horizon  in  India  his  rays  would  be  hot 
enough  to  give  a  sunstroke."  Such  a  midnight  sun, 
shining  more  or  less  brightly  on  the  Jewish  and  Gen- 
tile worlds,  with  little  warmth  in  its  beams,  preceded 
the  Advent;  with  the  Advent  that  sun  broke  forth  in 
his  strength,  not  only  illuminating  the  moral  world 
with  marvellous  light,  but  also  sending  forth  waves  of 
pulsating  life  to  quicken  all  sympathetic  souls  into 
fruitfulness  and  beauty,  as  the  tropic  noon  kindles  Na- 
ture into  her  last  fruition  and  glory.  This  life-giving 
virtue  is  the  salient  feature  of  the  Christian  dispensa- 
tion. Whilst  it  exalts  the  moral  ideal,  and  renders  it 
more  luminous  and  authoritative,  its  unique  glory  is 
found  in  the  fact  that  it  inspires  the  constraining,  lift- 


98  THE  INDWELLING  SPIEIT 

ing,  driving  power  essential  for  the  realization  of  the 
ideal.  How  much  already  has  the  apostle  written  in 
this  Epistle  concerning  the  marvellous  power!  He  is 
so  full  of  the  thought  that  it  emerges  in  every  few 
verses.  "  That  ye  may  know  the  exceeding  greatness 
of  His  power  to  us-ward  who  believe,  according  to  that 
working  of  the  strength  of  His  might  which  He 
wrought  in  Christ"  (1:19,  20).  "The  gospel, 
whereof  I  was  made  a  minister,  according  to  the  gift 
of  that  grace  of  God  which  was  given  me  according 
to  the  working  of  His  power  "  (3:7).  Again,  in  our 
glorious  text;  and  finally  the  doxology:  "Now  unto 
Him  that  is  able  to  do  exceeding  abundantly  above  all 
that  we  ask  or  think,  according  to  the  power  that  work- 
eth  in  us,  unto  Him  be  the  glory  in  the  church  and  in 
Christ  Jesus  unto  all  generations  for  ever  and  ever. 
Amen"  (3:  20,  21).  After  ages  of  moral  inability, 
and  all  the  sadness  that  goes  with  it,  the  apostle  has 
suddenly  come  to  the  knowledge  of  victorious  strength 
in  Christ  and  is  intoxicated  with  the  thought.  The 
believer  "  can  do  all  things,"  do  them  with  facility  and 
with  triumph.  As  supreme  genius  paints  and  sings 
and  declaims  with  absolute  mastery  and  joy,  so  hence- 
forth in  Christ  Jesus  shall  the  saints  reach  and  main- 
tain the  character  of  blameless  purity  with  ineffable 
delight.  How  beautiful,  serene,  and  satisfying  does 
life  become  when  Christ's  strength  is  perfected  in  our 
weakness,  when  the  risings  of  pride,  selfishness,  im- 
purity, and  every  irregular  desire  are  habitually  sup- 
pressed, and  we  freely  keep  the  law  in  its  length  and 
breadth !    Few  things  trouble  us  after  that. 

In  what  special  way  does  this  power  avail  the  be- 
lieving soul  tiiat  submits  itself  to  the  action  of  the  di- 
vine grace?     Let  us  consider  the  twofold  operation 


THE  INDWELLING  SPIKIT  99 

of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  the  end  of  our  sanctific?.tion  and 
utmost  salvation. 

I.  The  expulsive  power  of  the  Spirit.  We  no 
sooner  desire  to  obey  the  higher  law,  to  live  the  better 
life,  to  satisfy  the  ideal  of  the  soul,  than  we  become 
aware  of  a  dark  and  obstinate  element  within  us  con- 
tradicting our  aspirations.  We  find  that  the  moral 
life  does  not  unfold  with  the  facility  of  the  intel- 
lectual. The  education  of  the  mental  faculties  de- 
mands more  or  less  strenuousness ;  patience  and  reso- 
lution are  required  to  overcome  a  certain  inertia  and 
obtuseness.  But  in  the  cultivation  of  character  a 
thwarting,  hostile  element  appears,  rendering  it 
specially  difficult  to  realize  the  perfection  to  which 
we  aspire,  an  element  that  has  no  parallel  in  intellectual 
training.  And  it  is  here  that  sincere  men  are  so  often 
distraught.  Could  they  escape  this  experience,  other 
distress  might  be  borne;  but  the  embarrassing,  hu- 
miliating sense  of  moral  confusion  and  failure  is  never 
long  absent  from  consciousness,  inflicting  mysterious 
pain.  And  it  is  really  of  comparatively  little  use  to 
attempt  to  deal  with  other  disturbing  factors  unless 
we  first  understand  and  deal  effectually  with  the 
master  trouble  within  our  personality.  The  malady  of 
the  soul,  whatever  it  may  be,  the  false  bias  of  our  na- 
ture, lies  at  the  root  of  our  deepest  discouragement 
and  sadness,  although  its  baneful  presence  and  action 
may  not  be  recognized  distinctly. 

Revelation  has  done  immense  service  in  dragging 
this  obnoxious  power  into  the  light  and  making  known 
to  us  its  inmost  nature.  It  is  made  known  to  us  as  the 
law  of  sin  that  works  in  our  members  like  a  leaven, 
blinding,  debasing,  blighting,  cursing  our  whole  being 
and  existence ;  and  it  is  in  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit 


100  THE  INDWELLING  SPIRIT 

alone  that  we  can  hope  for  its  expulsion.  We 
have  only  to  mark  two  features  of  this  fatal  principle 
to  be  conscious  of  this,  viz.  its  spirituality  and  its 
strength. 

1.  The  spirituality  of  sin.  In  a  memorable  pas- 
sage St.  Paul  depicts  the  interior  conflict  with  which 
all  are  familiar.  Read  carefully  his  description  of  the 
tragic  struggle,  Romans  7:  14-34.  No  deep  experi- 
ence of  our  humanity  was  ever  described  more  truth- 
fully or  graphically.    An  old  poet  celebrates 

That  force  of  ancient  phrase,  which  speaking  paints ; 
And  is  the  thing  it  sings. 

No  profound  action  of  the  human  mind  was  ever  re- 
produced with  greater  fidelity  and  force  than  this 
struggle  of  the  soul  with  its  tyrant  foe.  Certain  critics 
have  invented  an  ingenious  theory  to  explain  St.  Paul's 
dilemma.  Admittedly  his  father  was  a  Hebrew,  and 
they  suppose  his  mother  to  have  been  a  Greek,  so  they 
conclude  that  the  disharmony  which  spoiled  his  life 
was  the  clashing  within  his  personality  of  the  diverse 
racial  characteristics  inherited  from  his  parents;  the 
Hebrew  and  Greek  genius,  with  their  contradictory 
ideals  and  sympathies,  met  in  stern  conflict,  perpetually 
contending  for  the  mastery.  The  historic  proof  for 
all  this  is  lacking,  its  absence,  however,  being  readily 
supplied  by  "  scientific  psychology."  But  St.  Paul  did 
not  find  the  source  of  the  terrible  antagonism  in  his 
blood ;  he  knew  it  to  be  of  quite  another  character.  He 
looked  far  deeper,  and  we  must  look  deeper  than  is  im- 
plied by  any  such  hypothesis.  Then  again  the  modern 
theory  teaches  that  the  conflict  by  which  we  are  rent  is 
that  of  reason  resisting  the  animal  proclivities  that  sur- 
vive in  us  from  our  brute  ancestry,  our  rational  na- 


THE  USTDWELLING  SPIEIT  101 

ture  denying  the  carnal  impulses  which  yet  seek  to  as- 
sert themselves;  and  this,  we  are  instructed,  is  the 
correct  explanation  of  the  internecine  strife  St.  Paul 
misunderstood.  There  is,  however,  far  too  much  to 
distinguish  sin  from  animal  appetities  and  passions, 
and  we  must  look  to  other  and  deeper  sources  for  its 
nature  and  origin. 

It  is  urged  in  defense  of  these  and  similar  theories, 
whose  purpose  is  to  account  for  the  disunion  and  strife 
of  our  nature,  that  they  tend  to  clear  away  the  mys- 
tery which  has  so  long  enshrouded  the  subject,  making 
it  simple  and  intelligible.  But  all  such  assumed  solu- 
tions of  the  problem  are  to  be  suspected  on  that  very 
account;  the  problems  of  the  soul  are  not  to  be  made 
simple  after  this  fashion.  A  recent  authority  in  sci- 
ence writes  thus:  "According  to  recent  research,  it 
is  not  so  much  the  color  of  the  environment  which  di- 
rectly affects  the  larvae  (of  the  coloration  of  cater- 
pillars) as  the  intensity  of  the  light.  In  other  respects 
also  some  of  the  first  crude  statements  made  on  the 
subject  are  being  modified.  It  may,  indeed,  be  ac- 
cepted as  a  general  truth  in  biology  that  whenever  a 
series  of  phenomena  seem  to  be  susceptible  of  an  ex- 
tremely simple  and  beautiful  explanation,  that  expia- 
tion is  wrong  and  founded  on  an  imperfect  acquaint- 
ance with  the  phenomena  in  question.  All  recent  prog- 
ress in  biological  theory  has  shown  that  life  is  not 
simple  but  complex,  and  has  involved  a  substitution 
of  extremely  complex  theories  for  simple  ones.'*  * 
When  scientists  write  like  this  about  the  lower  forms 
of  life,  are  we  hastily  to  adopt  simplifying  hypotheses 
of  those  profoundest  problems  of  the  human  heart 
and  conscience  which  have  called  forth  the  wonder, 
*  Newbigin,  Color  in  Nature. 


102  THE  INDWELLING  SPIEIT 

reverence,  perplexity,  and  despair  of  the  greatest  poets, 
dramatists,  philosophers,  and  divines  of  all  genera- 
tions? It  v^ill  be  long  indeed  before  the  great  mys- 
teries of  theology  are  made  simple,  "  the  mystery  of 
iniquity  "  last  of  all. 

We  do  not  approach  a  true  conception  of  the  nature 
of  sin  until  v^e  recognize  its  spirituality.  We  must 
cease  to  confound  it  with  any  motions  of  the  body, 
any  defects  of  matter,  or  with  any  traits  of  animal- 
ism, and  find  its  secret  in  the  defiled  conscience,  the 
perverted  reason,  the  misplaced  affections,  the  infirm 
will.  It  must  be  convicted  in  its  essence  and  source, 
and  not  confused  with  vehicle  or  instruments.  It  is 
the  "carnal  mind,"  yet  mind;  the  "flesh,"  yet  "the 
mind  of  the  flesh."  It  must  be  resolved  into  what  at 
first  and  last  it  is,  a  question  of  self-will  setting  at  de- 
fiance the  universal  and  eternal  law.  Our  Lord  gave 
the  true  and  highest  example  when  "  He  pleased  not 
Himself  " ;  and  sin  lies  in  the  contrary  decision,  to 
please  ourselves  in  contradiction  to  the  cosmic  law, 
and  to  Him  in  whom  the  universe  holds  together.  All 
treatment  of  sin  is  ineffectual  that  does  not  get  to  its 
root  in  the  human  soul.  Only  in  a  secondary  sense  do 
we  war  against  flesh  and  blood;  in  the  primary  sense 
we  contend  with  the  spirit  of  darkness,  with  the  "  sin 
that  dwelleth  in  us." 

Here,  then,  the  Spirit  of  grace  becomes  our  avail- 
ing strength.  "  That  ye  may  be  strengthened  with 
power  through  His  Spirit  in  the  inward  man."  "  Into 
the  inner  man."  As  Moule  notes,  "  No  surface  work 
here."  The  Spirit  is  to  reach  our  central  life,  penetra- 
ting to  the  depths  of  manhood,  and  our  strength  and 
hope  are  to  be  in  this  inworking  power  of  grace. 
Christ  by  the  Spirit  is  to  "  dwell  in  our  heart " ;  ruling 


THE  INDWELLING  SPIEIT  103 

at  the  very  fountain  of  thought,  emotion,  volition,  ac- 
tion: mind  against  mind,  will  against  will,  spirit 
against  spirit;  the  omnipotent  mind,  will,  spirit,  com- 
ing to  the  rescue  of  our  spiritual  life,  taking  up  all  the 
place,  assuming  the  absolute  sovereignty,  expelling 
-every  proud,  unruly,  impure  thought,  passion,  and  de- 
light. How  different  from  the  specific  of  shallow 
moralists  who  mistake  the  cleansing  of  the  skin  for  the 
cleansing  of  the  soul ! 

2.  The  strength  of  sin  is  another  feature  giving  us 
grave  concern,  and  one  only  to  be  effectually  with- 
stood in  the  power  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  "  The  power 
of  sin  is  the  law"  (1  Cor.  15:  56).  The  law  reveals 
its  malignity  and  force.  "  The  power  of  sin !  "  What 
an  appalling  thought!  How  completely  it  masters 
men,  making  its  victims  veritable  bond-slaves  of  the 
devil!  How  it  persists!  We  remember  hearing  a 
gentleman  say  that  on  visiting  his  father*s  farm  after 
an  absence  of  sixty  years  he  found  the  thistles  flourish- 
ing on  the  same  spots  they  occupied  when  he  was  a 
boy.  Is  it  not  too  often  the  same  with  our  moral  in- 
firmities and  faults — ^we  resent  and  deplore  them,  yet 
they  survive,  they  strengthen  with  the  years?  The 
covetous  hold  their  gold  with  a  still  firmer  grip  when 
their  hand  has  become  too  feeble  to  hold  anything  else. 
The  intemperate  suffer  what  cannot  be  told,  yet 
stammer,  "  I  will  seek  it  yet  again."  The  wrathful 
are  ashamed  of  their  temper,  and  yet  their  last  sun 
goes  down  on  their  wrath.  So  with  pride,  envy,  van- 
ity, and  all  the  vices.  Every  abortive  struggle  with 
evil  passion  seems  to  leave  it  only  more  rooted  and 
vigorous.  We  clearly  discern  the  rebellious  principle 
entrenched  in  our  humanity,  yet  are  pathetically  in- 
capable of  dislodging  it.     The  X-rays  may  reveal 


104  THE  INDWELLING  SPIKIT 

within  our  body  a  foreign,  poisonous  substance  which, 
however,  cannot  be  removed;  so  we  discern  in  our 
mind,  more  clearly  than  the  surgeon  perceives  the  bul- 
let in  our  bones,  a  fatal  element  we  are  powerless  to 
expel.  It  has  become  so  intermingled  with  our  na- 
ture, so  deep,  subtle,  and  stubborn,  that  it  would  ap- 
pear possible  for  death  alone  to  deliver  us. 

Here  again,  then,  we  see  the  necessity  for  the 
Spirit's  action,  the  action  promised  in  our  text.  ''  For 
this  cause  I  bow  my  knees."  "  I  pray  to  God  to  give 
you  strength  within,''  infused  strength.  The  central 
idea  of  the  whole  passage  is  strength;  the  strengthen- 
ing of  the  whole  inner  man.^  "  Strengthened  with 
power  through  His  spirit."  "  To  be  with  power  made 
mighty."  "  According  to  the  riches  of  His  glory," 
according  to  the  abundance  and  plenitude  of  His  own 
perfections,  is  He  to  enrich  and  empower  His  saints. 
"  The  strength  of  sin  "  is  countered  by  the  strength  of 
Omnipotent  redeeming  grace.  Elsewhere  the  apostle 
suggests  our  supreme  consolation  in  the  good  fight, 
"  But  I  say.  Walk  by  the  Spirit,  and  ye  shall  not  fulfil 
the  lust  of  the  flesh.  For  the  flesh  lusteth  against  the 
Spirit,  and  the  Spirit  against  the  flesh;  for  these  are 
contrary  the  one  to  the  other ;  that  ye  may  not  do  the 
things  that  ye  would  "  (Gal.  5:  16,  17).  In  our  help- 
lessness the  Spirit  of  truth  and  power  comes  to  our 
rescue,  strengthening  our  soul  victoriously  against 
every  sinister  passion  so  that  we  may  realize  the  fair 
visions  and  aspirations  of  our  better  self.  It  is  not  a 
struggle  of  my  spirit  against  the  "  body  of  sin":  if  it 
were  only  that,  I  might  well  despair;  it  is  a  conflict 
between  the  royal  Spirit  of  God  and  my  carnalized 
spirit,  and  whilst  I  prove  loyal  to  the  indwelling  Spirit 

*  Meyer. 


THE  INDWELLING  SPIKIT  105 

of  love  and  holiness  there  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the 
result.  St.  Paul  appealed  from  the  impotence  of  man 
to  the  power  of  God  to  save  from  a  dark  fate.  He 
held  firmly  to  the  lofty  moral  code  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, to  that  code  made  yet  more  impossible  to  flesh 
and  blood  by  the  spiritual  interpretations  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  yet  he  rejoiced  exceedingly  in  the  possession 
of  an  enlarged  measure  of  spiritual  power  which  not 
only  rendered  possible  the  keeping  of  the  law,  but  made 
obedience  instinctive  and  delightful. 

Do  we  not  too  habitually  brood  over  our  weaknesses 
and  failures,  whilst  neglecting  to  seek  the  hallowing 
power  that  is  ours  in  the  Lord?  A  while  ago  Sir 
Oliver  Lodge  observed  that  wise  men  do  not  worry 
about  their  sins,  and  he  was  severely  rebuked  for  this. 
Yet  we  cannot  for  one  moment  believe  that  so  serious 
a  man  intended  that  we  should  ignore  the  solemn  facts 
of  conscience ;  what  he  desired  was  to  divert  us  from 
morbid  brooding  over  weakness  and  failure,  and  to  set 
us  more  eagerly  on  the  pursuit  of  that  spiritual  health 
and  liberty  and  joy  which  pertain  to  our  high  calling  in 
Christ  Jesus.  The  suggestion  of  Sir  Oliver  Lodge  is 
a  renewal  of  the  admonition  given  long  ago  by  Bishop 
Wilson,  "  Let  us  not  afflict  ourselves  with  our  failings ; 
our  perfection  consists  in  opposing  them,"  and,  let  us 
add,  in  realizing  that  fullness  of  power  by  which  we 
shall  oppose  them  successfully.  So  certainly  as  we 
follow  this  advice  will  new  springs  of  energy  be  opened 
in  our  soul,  and  a  new  joy  brighten  our  life.  None 
ever  knew  a  more  acute  sense  of  sin  than  did  the  apos- 
tles ;  yet  they  reigned  as  kings,  exulted  as  conquerors, 
rejoiced  as  the  bridegroom  over  the  bride,  because  they 
habitually  proved  that  the  grace  of  God  was  the  mas- 
ter-power expelling  the  power  that  makes  for  unright- 


106  THE  INDWELLING  SPIEIT 

eousness,  and  enabling  them  to  do  all  the  gracious 
things  that  God  put  into  their  heart  to  do. 

II.  The  protective  virtue  of  the  indwelling  Spirit. 
All  around  is  a  great  world  of  evil,  of  evil  men,  things, 
influences,  and  in  countless  ways  it  appeals  to  us  and 
puts  us  in  peril.  May  we  not  say  that  the  possibilities 
of  transgression  are  as  multiplied  as  are  our  opportu- 
nities for  every  kind  of  duty  and  pleasure?  We  are 
continually  conscious  of  the  pressure  of  temptation. 
The  sirens  haunt  every  sea;  seducers  infect  all  dry 
places. .  Every  stage  of  life  brings  its  special  danger, 
every  rank,  every  situation.  Our  whole  environment 
abounds  with  possibilities  of  evil,  with  inducements  to 
its  commission.  Wherein,  then,  lies  our  safety  in  the 
midst  of  these  multiplied  assaults  and  risks  ?  Several 
legitimate  sources  of  what  we  may  consider  external 
aid  are  open  to  us.  It  is  a  comfort  to  recall  the  fact 
of  the  divine  government  watching  over  us,  safeguard- 
ing us  and  our  interests.  Many  Christians  derive  con- 
fidence from  their  belief  in  a  guardian  angel,  and  we 
may  all  be  strengthened  by  the  assurance  of  angelic 
allies  ministering  to  us  and  for  us.  Our  incorporation 
with  the  Church  of  the  living  God  is  a  sterling  bulwark 
that  may  justly  inspire  consolation  and  courage.  And, 
finally,  we  may  institute  a  variety  of  prudential  securi- 
ties against  unnecessary  exposure  to  temptation,  and 
against  the  power  of  inevitable  temptation.  Yet,  at 
last,  our  inviolability  is  guaranteed  by  none  of  these, 
but  by  our  being  "  strengthened  with  power  through 
His  Spirit  in  the  inward  man  '* ;  that  Christ  dwells  in 
our  heart  through  faith.  All  that  is  more  or  less  ex- 
ternal is  concerned  with  the  outworks,  whilst  the  be- 
lieving heart  is  the  citadel — the  magazines  are  there, 
the  garrison  is  there,  above  all,  the  Captain  is  there. 


THE  INDWELLING  SPIKIT  107 

Our  salvation  is  a  question  of  the  reality  and  depth  of 
our  life  in  Christ ;  all  is  precarious  that  does  not  hang 
on  this. 

The  physical  world  affords  many  proofs  of  the  fact 
that  external  defense  sadly  fails  to  secure  immunity, 
and  that  creatures  are  safe  only  in  the  soundness  and 
vigor  of  their  interior  life.  The  palaeontologist  is  im- 
pressed by  the  fatal  effect  which  an  ever-increasing  de- 
velopment of  armor  inevitably  produces  upon  the 
vitality  and  persistence  of  a  race.  Many  animals  in- 
habiting the  geological  world  were  encased  in  exten- 
sive, massive,  and  complicated  armor,  and  in  the  end 
this  very  armor  brought  about  their  extinction.  The 
creatures  without  armor,  or  whose  armor  rapidly  de- 
generated, alone  survived.  Scales,  shells,  sheaths, 
carapaces,  proved  only  precarious  and  temporary  de- 
fenses; if  the  coat  of  mail  of  a  creature  was  not  found 
in  its  vigorous  life,  it  was  doomed.  This  feature  of 
creature  life  is  recognized  as  valid  in  the  beasts  and 
birds  of  the  present.  It  is  conceded  that  many  of 
them  are  indebted  for  safety  to  their  peculiar  colora- 
tion rendering  them  more  or  less  invisible  to  their  ene- 
mies, yet  Douglas  Dewar,  writing  concerning  the  birds 
of  India,  remarks:  "As  the  hen  drongo  is  a  bird  capa- 
ble of  looking  after  herself,  there  is  no  necessity  for 
her  to  be  protectively  colored.  As  I  have  repeatedly 
declared,  one  ounce  of  good  solid  pugnacity  is  a  better 
weapon  in  the  struggle  for  existence  than  many  pounds 
of  protective  coloration."  In  other  words,  its  preser- 
vation is  far  more  a  question  of  intrinsic  vigor  than  of 
any  trick  of  concealment.  The  very  same  thing  ap- 
pears in  plants  that  the  geologist  noted  in  the  animals 
and  fishes  of  the  prehistoric  world.  Beccari,  describ- 
ing some  of  the  orchids  of  Borneo,  says:  "  It  appears 


108  THE  INDWELLING  SPIKIT 

to  me  to  be  almost  a  general  rule  that  the  more  a  plant 
is  provided  with  anomalous,  complicated,  and  uncom- 
mon contrivances,  the  more  precarious  and  difficult 
must  have  been  its  conditions  of  existence  in  past  evo- 
lutive periods.  They  have  attempted  to  better  their 
position  by  special  adaptations,  but  the  complications 
attending  these  have  finally  proved  a  disadvantage 
rather  than  an  advantage  to  them."  They  were  defi- 
cient in  vitality  to  face  and  overcome  the  difficulty  of 
their  environment,  and  sought  to  perpetuate  them- 
selves by  politic  devices,  which  in  the  end  practically 
brought  about  their  extinction.  No  exterior  precau- 
tion atones  for  the  absence  of  central  heat  and  force. 

All  this  is  not  irrelevant,  but  directs  attention  to 
what  in  character  we  are  so  apt  to  forget,  the  necessity 
for  keeping  the  heart  with  all  diligence.  The  coat  of 
mail  must  be  worn  on  the  soul.  It  is  true  that  "  We 
cannot  spare  the  coarsest  guard  of  virtue,"  yet  it  is 
essential  to  remember  that  we  are  not  immune  by  vows 
and  pledges,  nor  by  efforts  to  exclude  temptation,  or  to 
reduce  it  to  a  minimum ;  but  by  confronting  the  world 
of  evil  with  a  soul  empowered  for  all  goodness  by  the 
Spirit  of  holiness  and  love.  After  all  that  has  been 
said  and  written  concerning  the  prudential  defense  of 
the  moral  life,  it  is  surprising  how  little  the  New  Tes- 
tament has  to  say  about  external  defenses  against  the 
fascination  and  force  of  temptation.  Whilst  it  does 
not  omit  to  enjoin  such  action,  its  chief  emphasis  is 
always  laid  on  the  strength  and  soundness  of  the  soul 
itself.  The  conscience  touched  to  fine  issues,  the  will 
invested  with  imperial  authority,  the  understanding 
illuminated  by  large  and  confident  views,  the  imagina- 
tion delighting  in  pure  and  exalted  visions,  the  affec- 
tions set  on  things  high  and  holy — all  this  in  its 


THE  INDWELLING  SPIRIT  109 

fullness  is  meant  by  Christ  in  the  heart ;  and  this  is  the 
New  Testament  philosophy  of  salvation  in  a  dangerous 
world.  The  vitality  and  richness  of  the  spiritual  life 
is  the  saint's  defense  against  all  evil.  **  Forasmuch 
then  as  Christ  suffered  in  the  flesh,  arm  ye  yourselves 
also  with  the  same  thought ;  for  He  that  hath  suffered 
in  the  flesh  hath  ceased  from  sin;  that  ye  no  longer 
should  live  the  rest  of  your  time  in  the  flesh  to  the 
lusts  of  men,  but  to  the  will  of  God  "  (1  Peter  4:  1,  2) 
(r.  v.  marg.). 

Yet  many  of  us  are  unmindful  of  the  secret  of  peace. 
We  disturb  and  distress  ourselves  by  dwelling  on  the 
actual  and  possible  perils  of  life,  instead  of  looking 
within  and  availing  ourselves  of  the  power  of  the 
Spirit  to  fortify  the  soul.  Many  dare  not  enjoy  the 
good,  bright,  beautiful,  joyous  things  of  life,  thinking 
of  the  mischief  that  may  lurk  in  them.  A  French 
writer  introduces  into  one  of  his  stories  a  person  who, 
"  the  better  to  guard  against  temptation,  used  a  cun- 
ningly-contrived opera-glass  which  destroyed  the  har- 
mony of  the  fairest  features  by  hideous  distortions." 
Not  a  few  good  people  put  this  glass  to  the  eye  of  their 
mind,  thus  persuading  themselves  that  things  really 
good  and  beautiful  are  baneful  and,  for  the  safety  of 
the  soul,  to  be  shunned.  It  is,  however,  in  the  power 
of  a  strong  faith,  of  a  burning  love,  of  an  assured 
hope,  that  we  are  safe  from  any  unwholesome  influence 
alike  of  things  legitimate  and  illegitimate.  The 
strengthening  of  the  inward  man  deprives  temptation 
of  its  magic,  and  keeps  the  soul  in  "  peace,  perfect 
peace,  in  this  dark  world  of  sin." 

We  know  the  condition  and  channel  of  this  gift  of 
spiritual  power,  as  we  know  its  greatness.  "  For  this 
cause  I  bow  my  knees."     We  have  spoken  of  scientists 


110  THE  DTDWELLING  SPIRIT 

searching  for  power  at  various  sources — ^in  the  sun, 
the  sea,  the  storm,  the  depths  of  the  earth.  Their 
difficulty,  however,  is  to  lay  their  hand  on  the  nexus 
by  which  these  forces  are  rendered  available.  The 
problem  is  to  set  a  trap  to  catch  the  sunbeam,  to  switch 
on  the  central  heat  to  the  waiting  machinery,  to  har- 
ness the  white  sea-horses  of  the  Atlantic  to  the  car  of 
civilization.  But  we  know  how  to  make  the  mighty 
forces  of  the  spiritual  universe  our  own.  "  I  bow  my 
knees."    How  simple !    How  sublime !    How  effective ! 


VIII 
THE  LAW  OF  LIBERTY 

There  is  therefore  now  no  condemnation  to  them  that  are  in 
Christ  Jesus.  For  the  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus 
made  me  free  from  the  law  of  sin  and  of  death. — Romans  8 :  i,  2. 

IDEAL  goodness  is  spontaneous  and  effortless. 
Noble  souls  are  little  occupied  with  reasoning  and 
calculation,  or  little  troubled  by  self -conscious- 
ness; the  law  is  fulfilled  though  forgotten.  As  ex- 
pressed by  Coleridge,  "  The  angelic  nature  would  act 
from  impulse  alone."  When  the  will  of  God  is  done 
on  earth  as  it  is  done  in  heaven,  it  is  done  precisely  in 
that  way.  With  immediate  vision  the  soul  perceives 
the  true,  the  lovely,  the  good ;  and  without  pause,  fric- 
tion, or  failure  follows  the  gleam.  The  right  desire, 
word,  or  act  springs  from  the  depths  of  the  spirit  as 
perfume  from  a  flower,  or  song  from  a  bird.  To  in- 
terfere with  the  liberty  of  the  soul  is  to  thwart  its  as- 
pirations. There  is  no  sense  of  genuine  rest  and 
satisfaction  until  we  are  perfectly  free  to  obey  the  con- 
victions and  impulses  of  our  highest  nature.  Whilst 
these  are  deflected,  contradicted,  or  frustrated,  a  serene 
mind  is  impossible.  Everywhere  in  Nature  freedom  is 
the  condition  of  perfect  development  and  happiness, 
and  it  is  supremely  the  condition  for  the  perfect  de- 
velopment and  felicity  of  human  nature.  To  infringe 
the  freedom  of  plant  or  animal  is  to  impair  its  special 
charm,  and  to  restrict  the  free  expression  of  the  in- 
spired soul  is  to  mar  its  perfectness  and  delight.     We 

III 


112  THE  LAW  OF  LIBEETY 

must  be  so  entirely  identified  with  the  truth  that  right 
action  shall  not  result  from  the  lower  reason  of  fear 
or  interest,  but  from  the  higher,  of  a  will  so  free  from 
all  base  alloy  as  to  sympathize  by  instinct  with  the 
eternal  laws,  and  such  a  will  must  be  free  to  express 
itself;  perfect  felicity  is  possible  only  on  these  con- 
ditions. Whatever  deranges  the  integrity  of  the  soul, 
puts  it  out  of  tune  with  the  eternal  laws  of  the  moral 
universe,  destroys  the  joy  of  life. 

Let  us,  then,  inquire  as  to  how  in  Christ  Jesus  this 
ideal  condition  is  realized. 

I.  Our  Lord  gives  us  the  most  vivid  sense  of  the 
authority  and  grandeur,  the  reasonableness  and  gra- 
ciousness,  of  the  moral  law  we  are  called  upon  to  obey. 
It  might  be  thought  that  to  raise  and  intensify  our  con- 
ception of  the  law  of  righteousness  was  to  multiply  our 
difficulties  and  to  make  more  remote  the  prospect  of 
happiness ;  but,  in  fact,  pure  joy  is  possible  only  so  far 
as  we  understand  and  reverence  that  law. 

So  far,  then,  as  the  majesty  of  the  law  is  concerned, 
our  Lord  proclaims  it  with  utmost  solemnity.  We  are 
taught  by  Him  that  it  is  no  local,  technical,  or  tem- 
porary enactment,  but  that  its  seat  is  the  bosom  of 
God,  its  sphere  the  universe,  its  obligation  everlasting, 
and  far  from  abating  a  jot  or  tittle  of  its  requirements 
He  emphatically  confirms  it,  brings  out  its  spirituality, 
enthrones  it  as  the  law  of  His  kingdom.  In  the 
Japanese  Letters  of  Lafcadio  Hearn  there  is  a  passage 
in  which  he  expresses  the  opinion  that  through  science 
the  modern  world  has  acquired  a  new  sense  of  the 
majesty  of  law.  "  When  we  learn  scientifically  at 
what  an  awful  cost  of  suffering  and  struggle  and  death 
any  single  moral  being  is  evolved,  surely  the  sense  of 
the  value  of  a  life  is  increased  unspeakably.    And,  on 


THE  LAW  OF  LIBEKTY  113 

the  other  hand,  how  much  more  terrible  does  a  crime 
appear!  For  of  old  a  crime  was  a  violation  of  the 
laws  of  a  country,  a  particular  society,  a  particular 
theology;  but  in  the  light  of  the  new  philosophy,  a  real 
crime  becomes  a  crime  against  not  only  the  totality  of 
all  human  experience  with  right  and  wrong,  but  a  dis- 
tinct injury  to  the  universal  tendency  to  higher 
things — a  crime  against  not  humanity  only,  but  the 
entire  cosmos — against  the  laws  that  move  a  hundred 
millions  of  systems  of  worlds."  Whatever  new  sense 
of  the  grandeur  of  moral  law  the  world  at  large  may 
derive  from  evolutionary  doctrine,  the  Bible  student 
has  little  to  learn  on  that  score  from  the  new  philos- 
ophy. He  has  always  known  of  the  measureless  scope 
and  eternal  obligation  of  the  law  of  righteousness ;  and, 
far  more,  he  has  understood  that  a  crime  is  not  only 
a  violation  of  the  laws  that  move  a  hundred  millions 
of  systems  of  worlds,  but  chiefly  it  is  an  offense  against 
Him  out  of  whom  the  universe  arose,  and  in  whom  it 
holds  together.  So  sublime  is  the  moral  commandment 
as  enforced  by  our  Lord,  so  serious  its  violation,  so 
magnificent  its  rewards,  so  overwhelming  its  penalties. 
"  It  pleased  the  Lord,  for  His  righteousness*  sake,  to 
magnify  the  law,  and  make  it  honorable"  (Isa.  42: 
21).  This  He  did  preeminently  in  all  His  teaching, 
finally  sealing  His  testimony  with  the  tremendous 
affirmation  of  the  Cross.  He  gave  the  race  a  new  sense 
of  the  awful  sanctions  and  irreducible  claim  of  the  law 
which  is  a  transcript  of  the  holiness  of  God,  blessed  for 
evermore.  We  are  not  likely  to  pay  much  respect  to 
the  law  of  conduct  whilst  it  is  regarded  merely  as  a 
matter  of  social  convention  and  sanction,  but  we  listen 
to  it  with  awe  as  it  comes  from  the  lips  of  Christ 
stamped  with  the  idiom  of  eternity. 


114  THE  LAW  OF  LIBERTY 

Our  Lord  also  set  forth,  most  impressively,  the 
reasonableness  and  graciousness  of  the  highest  law. 
The  whole  idea  of  obedience  as  taught  by  Him  is  most 
beautiful.  How  different  from  the  materialist's  *'  con- 
formity to  world-order,"  especially  when  that  order  is 
viewed  with  little  complacency;  or  from  the  Stoics* 
submission  to  a  blind  fatality!  All  thoughts  of  iron 
law,  ruthless  fate,  harsh  necessity,  are  entirely  absent 
from  the  laws  of  life  as  laid  down  by  our  Lord.  It  is 
"  the  will  of  your  heavenly  Father  "  that  ye  do  this 
or  that;  that  governs  you  and  all  that  concerns  you. 
So  all  suspicions  of  injustice,  irrationality,  despotism, 
are  banished.  "  His  commandments  are  not  grievous  " ; 
they  are  based  on  reason,  are  altogether  right,  at  every 
turn  respect  our  freedom,  and  in  every  detail  contem- 
plate our  happiness.  So  we  are  called  upon  to  obey 
"  the  royal  law  of  liberty,"  to  prove  "  what  is  the  good 
and  acceptable  and  perfect  will  of  God  "  (Rom.  12:  2). 

11.  In  the  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  we  are  freed 
from  that  baser  element  of  our  nature  which  contra- 
dicts the  holy  law  and  brings  us  into  ignoble  bondage: 
"  the  law  of  sin  and  of  death."  Just  now  we  spoke 
of  the  peace  and  gladness  of  those  who  are  perfectly 
free  to  obey  the  convictions  and  impulses  of  their 
true  nature,  who  think  truly,  live  in  all  purity,  doing 
only  the  things  that  are  lovely  and  of  good  report, 
without  pause,  friction,  or  failure.  But  how  far  from 
us  is  the  realization  of  this  ideal  condition,  so  passion- 
ately desired  by  sincere  men !  Our  reasonings  may  be 
wise,  our  desires  good,  our  purpose  worthy;  but  our 
heart  plays  us  falsely,  and  we  come  piteously  short  of 
the  essential  truth  of  righteousness.  We  continually 
detect  ourselves  falling  away  into  irregular  imagina- 
tion and  passion.     The  lure  of  temporal  advantage 


THE  LAW  OF  LIBERTY  115 

warps  the  soul  from  its  integrity,  wild  cravings  betray 
into  the  sensual  mire,  pride  creeps  in  to  debase  what 
promised  the  noblest,  fickleness  mocks  resolution,  and 
inexplicable  weakness  invites  unworthy  compromise. 
Our  way  of  life  does  not  conform  to  our  better  judg- 
ment; our  character  sinks  below  the  pattern  we  ap- 
prove; conscience  convicts,  our  heart  condemns  us. 
The  alien  power  that  has  entrenched  itself  within 
coerces  us  into  grooves  of  sentiment  and  conduct  in- 
volving acute  unhappiness;  we  become  angry  with 
ourselves,  despise  ourselves,  despair  of  ourselves. 
Here,  then,  we  are  face  to  face  with  the  fact,  the 
personal,  experimental  fact,  that  we  are  no  longer  free 
to  obey  the  divine  impulses  of  the  soul;  our  best, 
truest  nature  cannot  unconstrainedly  and  joyously  un- 
fold itself ;  what  ought  to  be  great  deeds  and  moments 
are  blighted ;  and  we  turn  aside  to  paths  of  which  we 
disapprove.  However  it  has  come  to  pass,  we  have 
lost  our  birthright  of  freedom,  are  "  sold  under  sin," 
subjected  to  a  disgraceful  bondage  of  ungodly,  irra- 
tional, and  base  elements  and  taskmasters.  Delighting 
in  the  law  of  God  after  the  inward  man,  we  forthwith 
proceed  virtually,  practically,  to  deny  it 

In  the  intellectual  life  there  is  no  antagonism  to 
any  branch  of  knowledge  corresponding  to  the  hostility 
displayed  in  the  moral  life  when  its  several  duties  are 
enforced.  The  student  listens  to  the  recital  of  the 
stupendous  facts  of  astronomy  without  any  emotion 
of  displeasure,  he  hears  the  long  story  of  geology  with 
a  serene,  unvexed  mind;  and  there  is  nothing  in  the 
sciences  of  mathematics,  chemistry,  or  biology  to 
provoke  to  bitterness  and  protest.  On  the  contrary, 
the  knowledge  of  such  truths  only  excites  wonder, 
desire,   and  delight.     How  dififerent   it  is  with   the 


116  THE  LAW  OF  LIBERTY 

presentment  of  moral  truths !  Set  forth  the  claims  of 
truth  and  purity,  of  justice  and  generosity,  and  whilst 
in  their  heart  of  hearts  the  dishonest,  the  impure,  the 
selfish  will  acknowledge  their  obligation,  they  will  resist 
them  with  wrath  and  invective.  You  become  an  enemy 
if  you  tell  the  truth,  disclose  the  beauty  of  purity,  or 
invite  to  deeds  of  love  and  sacrifice.  It  was  the  moral 
teaching,  not  the  philosophical,  that  cost  Socrates  the 
cup  of  hemlock;  it  was  the  doctrine  of  a  spiritual  right- 
eousness that  nailed  Jesus  to  the  cross.  "  The  mind 
of  the  flesh  is  enmity  against  God;  for  it  is  not  subject 
to  the  law  of  God,  neither  indeed  can  it  be  "  (Rom. 
8:7).  Here  the  root  of  discord  is  laid  bare.  We 
discover  the  secret  of  our  bondage.  We  know  what 
prevents  the  realization  of  the  great  possibilities  of 
which  we  are  conscious. 

It  is  this  law  "of  sin  and  death  "  established  in  our 
members  that  is  ever  bringing  our  best  counsels  and 
resolutions  to  naught:  "What  the  law  could  not  do, 
in  that  it  was  weak  through  the  flesh'*  (Rom.  8:  3). 
Auguste  Comte,  the  founder  of  the  Positivist  system, 
repeatedly  laments  the  weakness  of  the  altruistic 
instinct  on  which  he  so  largely  reckoned ;  he  was  pain- 
fully conscious  that  this  basic  defect  of  human  nature 
jeopardized  the  whole  elaborate  system  he  sought  to 
establish.  But  not  only  does  the  altruistic  instinct 
lack  depth  and  force ;  all  the  moral  instincts  are  equally 
deficient.  If  the  social  reformer  postulates  chastity 
as  the  corner-stone  of  his  system,  he  soon  becomes 
aware  of  the  lamentable  inadequacy  of  the  instinct  of 
purity.  Or,  if  persuaded  that  moderation  of  appetite 
is  of  the  essence  of  character  and  the  indispensable 
condition  of  social  prosperity  and  happiness,  he  soon 
has  reason  to  deplore  the  sad  insufficiency  of  the  in- 


THE  LAW  OF  LIBEETY  117 

stinct  of  temperance.  Or,  perhaps,  insisting  on  truth 
and  justice  as  the  cardinal  virtues  that  alone  guarantee 
personal  and  public  welfare,  it  is  not  long  before  he 
discovers  how  debilitated  is  the  instinct  which  he  has 
charged  with  so  heavy  a  burden.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  whole  moral  life  is  anaemic,  as,  indeed,  revelation 
declares  it  to  be;  and  all  the  instincts  are  unequal  to 
the  tension  to  which  they  are  subjected  in  a  disordered 
world  like  this.  Systems  of  well-considered  social 
reform  that  arouse  rosiest  expectations  are  continually 
proving  nugatory;  and  when  this  is  the  case  it  is 
usually  thought  that  they  were  defective  in  some 
particular  of  method,  or  that  they  were  not  properly 
administered ;  when  the  simple  truth  is  that  they  broke 
down  in  the  moral  weakness  of  human  nature.  We 
"  approve  the  things  that  are  excellent,"  but,  attempt- 
ing to  reduce  them  to  practice,  we  discover  to  our  dis- 
tress what  we  are.  As  Edmund  Burke  justly  declares, 
"It  is  ordained  in  the  eternal  constitution  of  things 
that  men  of  intemperate  minds  cannot  be  free.  Their 
passions  forge  their  fetters." 

Is,  then,  release  possible  from  this  foreign  yoke 
which  denies  the  soul  the  right  and  opportunity  to 
follow  its  own  native  sublime  instinct  and  law,  or  is  the 
alien  element  ingrained  and  inevitable?  Years  ago  a 
few  naturalists  adopted  a  hypothesis  that  was  known 
as  Dualism.  They  believed  that  certain  plants  were 
not  simple,  independent  vegetable  entities,  but  com- 
pound organisms,  consisting  of  contradictory  yet  in- 
separable organs,  one  normal  and  the  other  parasitic, 
the  parasitic  being  the  predominant  partner,  living  on 
the  other.  But  scientists  of  repute  unanimously 
rejected  the  theory.  They  maintained  that  the  fungus 
and  its  host  were  essentially  disparate  and  hostile,  and 


118  THE  LAW  OF  LIBERTY 

could  not  possibly  be  combined  in  one  organism. 
However  closely  the  parasite  might  be  interwoven  with 
the  plant,  and  be  liable  to  be  mistaken  for  an  integral 
portion  of  it,  yet  it  was  a  foreign  body,  and  could  not 
at  the  same  time  be  an  organ  of  the  system  upon  which 
it  fed;  Nature  forbade  the  monstrosity/  Which 
things  are  an  allegory.  No  parasite  in  Nature  ever 
clung  so  closely  to  its  victim,  so  penetrated  and  poi- 
soned its  tissues,  so  thoroughly  identified  itself  with  all 
its  members  and  motions,  as  the  fungus  called  sin  has 
identified  itself  with  human  nature  and  infected  all 
human  experience  and  action.  Considering  how  evil 
taints  our  blood,  disorders  our  passions,  saps  our  will, 
and  vitiates  our  whole  constitution  and  history,  one 
might  be  forgiven  for  mistaking  it  for  an  integral  part 
of  our  primitive  and  essential  being;  yet  on  the  best 
authority  we  know  it  to  be  a  vile  parasite  that  has 
fastened  upon  us,  an  alien  thing  that  is  not,  nor  ever 
can  be,  an  organic  faculty,  a  native  principle,  an 
essential  feature  of  our  divine  nature.  The  righteous 
character  of  the  Creator  forbids  the  paradoxical  crea- 
tion. What  an  immense  service  has  revelation  ren- 
dered us  by  setting  forth  this  fact  in  a  manner  so 
authoritative  and  convincing ! 

"  The  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus  made 
me  free  from  the  law  of  sin  and  death."  In  the  grace 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  is  the  foreign  yoke  broken  and  we 
enter  into  "  the  liberty  of  the  glory  of  the  children  of 
God."  So  far  as  sin  is  ungodliness,  it  is  abolished  in 
Him  who  reconciles  us  to  God,  causing  us  to  delight  in 
Him,  in  His  will,  and  in  His  service.  So  far  as  sin 
is  selfishness,  it  is  expelled  by  the  pure  expansive  love 
which  He  sheds  abroad  in  the  believing  heart.  And 
*  Cooke,  Low  Life  amongst  Plants. 


THE  LAW  OF  LIBEBTY  119 

so  far  as  sin  is  sensuality,  it  is  purged  by  His  grace; 
for  whatever  may  be  imputed  to  animal  origin,  there  is 
no  mistake  about  its  antidote,  for  "  the  requirement  of 
the  law  is  fulfilled  in  us,  who  walk  not  after  the  flesh, 
but  after  the  Spirit."  Thus,  as  we  apprehend  that  for 
which  we  are  apprehended  in  Christ  Jesus,  our  regen- 
erate nature  becomes  free  to  act,  to  develop  itself  ac- 
cording to  its  own  laws,  to  embody  its  ideals  and 
aspirations.  It  is  no  longer  restrained,  rebuked, 
coerced;  but  as  the  lark  sings,  the  tree  blossoms,  the 
eagle  soars,  so  does  the  soul  exult  in  its  liberty,  its 
gladness,  its  glory. 

III.  We  note,  finally,  how  in  the  power  of  the 
Spirit  the  life  of  obedience  becomes  a  life  of  completed 
freedom.  Freed  from  the  opposing  elements  of  pride, 
selfishness,  wilfulness,  and  carnality,  by  the  action  of 
the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus,  the  selfsame  Spirit 
abides  with  us  to  render  a  life  of  obedience  one  of 
perfect  liberty.  His  work  is  twofold;  emancipating 
us  from  the  false,  and  then  drawing  out  and  sanctify- 
ing every  spiritual  faculty  of  our  redeemed  nature. 
"  But  now  being  made  free  from  sin,  and  become 
servants  to  God,  ye  have  your  fruit  unto  sanctification, 
and  the  end  eternal  life  "  (Rom.  6:  23).  "  Now  the 
Lord  is  the  Spirit:  and  where  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is, 
there  is  liberty"  (2  Cor.  3:  lY).  Or  "Where  the 
Spirit  is  Lord,  there  is  liberty."  His  gracious  work  is 
so  to  purify  and  energize  our  moral  life  that  every 
grace  of  character  shall  be  evolved,  every  noble  deed 
done,  every  saintly  habit  established,  as  by  an  invinci- 
ble law.  "  The  virtuous  man  must  be  a  poet  and  not 
a  drudge  of  his  virtues  to  have  them  perfect.  If  he 
could  by  implication  perform  all  the  virtues,  that  is, 
not  aim  to  be  temperate,  nor  aim  to  be  honest,  nor  aim 


120  THE  LAW  OF  LIBEKTY 

to  be  liberal,  but  in  his  lofty  piety  be  all  three  without 
knowing  it,  then  is  he  the  good  moralist.  The 
ecclesiastical  dogma  of  '  Faith,  not  Works '  is  based 
on  this  truth." '  So  our  philosopher  admits  that  an 
ecclesiastical  dogma  may  occasionally  turn  out  to  be  a 
verity ;  and  here  he  finds  one  that  proves  so,  inasmuch 
as  it  recognizes  virtue  to  be  a  question  of  the  soul, 
spontaneous  and  unconscious,  and  not  a  matter  of 
calculation  and  constraint.  True,  "  the  virtuous  man 
must  be  a  poet."  He  is  never  in  the  truest  and  fullest 
sense  a  virtuous  man  until  he  is  a  poet ;  his  virtue  the 
expression  of  faith,  emotion,  inspiration,  delight.  But 
is  not  this  exactly  what  the  Spirit  of  God,  glorifying 
the  Christ,  strives  to  make  him  ?  "  For  we  are  His 
workmanship  "  (Eph.  2:  10).  Or,  as  some  choose  to 
render  the  passage,  "  We  are  His  poems."  He  makes 
poetry  of  us.  The  spiritually  righteous  man,  living 
in  the  full  power  of  his  faith,  in  the  obedience  of  the 
faith,  enjoys  the  inspiration,  the  spontaneity,  the  glow 
and  rapture  of  a  great  poet,  only  as  much  more  as  the 
spiritual  is  beyond  the  intellectual. 

The  perfect  freedom  of  Christian  obedience  is  ex- 
plained by  two  great  words,  ''  life  "  and  ''  love"  "  The 
law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  "  makes  possible  a  triumphal 
life  of  goodness.  The  obedience  of  the  saint  is  first 
inward  and  vital,  then  external  and  practical ;  it  is  the 
acquiescence,  the  concurrence,  the  passion  of  the  mind 
and  heart,  and  thus  expresses  the  freedom  of  life,  the 
power  and  joy  of  life.  An  external  duti fulness  that 
lacks  the  consent  of  the  inward  man  is  bondage,  how- 
ever it  may  be  disguised ;  the  consenting,  willing,  kin- 
dling spirit  knows  real  liberty.  The  man  himself,  in 
thought  and  feeling  and  will,  must  become  a  decalogue 
*  Emerson,  Journal,  vol.  iii.,  p.  427. 


THE  LAW  OF  LIBERTY  121 

before  duty  can  become  nature  and  delight.  External 
righteousness  may  be  a  close  imitation  of  that  which  is 
spiritual  and  genuine,  yet  at  last  the  distance  is  im- 
measurable between  a  living  thing  and  a  manufactured 
article;  and  nowhere  is  that  distance  vaster  than  be- 
tween a  living  and  a  formal  morality.  A  recent  vol- 
ume tells  that  when  Herbert  Spencer  went  to  live  in 
a  new  house,  and  it  came  to  a  choice  of  flowers  that 
would  harmonize  with  the  background,  he  insisted 
upon  having  artificial  flowers  in  his  vases,  as  they 
would  require  no  replenishing.  He  considered  they 
were  so  well  made  that  the  visitor  would  think  them 
real,  and  admire  them  accordingly,  although  bees  and 
butterflies  would  hardly  be  expected  to  be  similarly  de- 
ceived. His  friends  remonstrated,  "  That  no  one 
would  dream  that  Herbert  Spencer  would  have  any- 
thing artificial  about  him.*'  The  friends  were  wrong; 
the  choice  was  characteristic  of  his  whole  philosophy, 
as  it  is  of  the  entire  school  of  secular  moralists  he  rep- 
resented. His  moral  system  was  rootless;  it  struck 
no  fibres  deep  into  the  secret  and  profound  depths  of 
the  soul,  exactly  where  man  really  begins  to  live ;  like 
his  Parisian  beauties,  it  required  no  replenishing,  whilst 
spiritual  excellence  must  be  renewed  day  by  day;  and 
it  was  so  artistically  wrought  out  that,  like  the  elegant 
posy  in  the  vase,  it  might  readily  be  accepted  as  real, 
and  admired  accordingly.  Yet,  after  all,  the  waxen 
flowers  were  only  a  superficial  artifice,  lacking  truth, 
beauty,  and  fragrance;  and  so  far  were  significant  of 
the  philosophy  of  their  clever  admirer.  He  who  would 
adorn  the  doctrine  of  God  our  Saviour  in  all  things 
must  be  animated  and  sustained  by  the  sincerity  and 
enthusiasm  of  the  heart.  The  condemnation  of  all 
secular  morality  is  its  soullessness,  no  matter  what  its 


122  THE  LAW  OF  LIBERTY 

technical,  mechanical,  exterior  propriety.  Sterling 
goodness  is  quick  with  the  throbbing  of  the  heart;  only 
then  is  it  accepted  on  high.  What  can  it  avail  if  whilst 
an  external  harmony  is  maintained  between  man  and 
the  higher  law,  anarchy  rules  in  the  heart,  and  at  every 
step  the  law  properly  understood  is  ignored  and 
flouted? 

How  wonderful  is  life!  How  full  of  power,  cour- 
age, sagacity,  creativeness,  beauty,  joy!  And  such  is 
the  eternal  life  that  is  in  the  Son,  and  that  He  breathes 
into  the  believing  soul.  "  It  is  the  spirit  that  quick- 
eneth;  the  flesh  profiteth  nothing:  the  words  that  I 
have  spoken  unto  you  are  spirit,  and  are  life  "  (John 
6:  63).  It  is  all  mysterious;  but  the  Lord  of  life 
knows  how  to  impart  life,  and  with  it  the  freedom 
that  makes  free  indeed.  "  I  will  put  my  law  in  their 
inward  parts,  and  in  their  heart  will  I  write  it "  ( Jer. 
31:33).  The  written  law  becomes  the  law  of  the 
inward  life,  allied  with  all  the  resources  of  the  soul, 
vitalizing  all  good  instincts,  and  making  them  effective 
unto  every  good  work.  There  is  no  drudgery  or  slav- 
ery after  this.  A  living  law  of  holiness  makes  light  of 
birth's  invidious  bar,  of  unfriendly  environments,  and 
of  whatever  else  would  seek  to  embarrass  and  enslave. 
The  saints  of  the  New  Testament  never  complain  of 
the  severity  of  the  commandment,  or  hesitate  like  men 
infirm  of  purpose  who  are  summoned  to  duties  beyond 
their  strength.  Their  temper  is  that  of  conscious  con- 
querors; they  attack  duties  of  supreme  difficulty  with 
sublime  confidence;  they  exult  in  their  strength;  the 
law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  renders  them  serene  and  in- 
vincible. 

Love  is  the  other  word  that  converts  law  into  poetry 
and  music.     It  is  a  mistake  to  think  that  the  law  writ- 


THE  LAW  OF  LIBERTY  123 

ten  in  the  heart  makes  us  independent  of  the  written 
commandments.  It  does  not.  The  law  of  Sinai  with 
its  sharp  definitions  and  dogmatic  prohibitions  "  is 
good/'  as  St.  Paul  declares,  and  is  not  to  be  discarded 
or  depreciated.  In  all  culture  specific  rule  has  its 
place ;  and  whilst  the  greatest  masters  in  a  sense  tran- 
scend it,  they  never  cease  to  recognize  its  essential  im- 
portance. In  the  intellectual  life  an  apprenticeship 
must  be  served.  As  Ruskin  has  so  eloquently  shown, 
the  teacher  often  finds  it  necessary  to  say  that  this  or 
that  must  or  must  not  be  done,  although  a  time  will 
come  to  the  true  artist  when  he  has  that  inspiration 
in  him  which  is  above  all  law.  This  life  is  our  stage 
of  moral  apprenticeship  in  which  we  need  the  guidance 
of  the  precept;  farther  on,  and  in  the  great  beyond, 
the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect  may  be  trusted. 
By  His  constant  deference  to  the  letter  of  the  law 
the  Master  set  us  an  example  that  we  should  closely 
follow. 

But  this  respect  to  the  commandment  in  nowise  cir- 
cumscribes our  freedom.  How  copiously  our  Lord 
treats  of  law  and  love,  of  love  as  the  dynamic  of  obedi- 
ence !  "  If  ye  love  Me,  ye  will  keep  My  command- 
ments" (John  14:15).  "He  that  hath  My  com- 
mandments, and  keepeth  them,  he  it  is  that  loveth  Me: 
and  he  that  loveth  Me  shall  be  loved  of  My  Father, 
and  I  will  love  Him,  and  will  manifest  Myself  unto 
Him"  (21).  St.  John,  in  his  First  Epistle,  abun- 
dantly sets  forth  the  same  vital  truth.  And  there  is  no 
anomaly  in  this  combination  of  law  and  love ;  they  are 
the  two  poles  of  the  same  sphere,  and  the  whole  Chris- 
tian life  develops  on  the  basis  of  the  complementary 
doctrines.  The  heart,  that  magazine  of  power,  that 
master-passion  of  affection,  that  mainspring  of  life; 


124  THE  LAW  OF  LIBERTY 

admiration,  adoration,  enthusiasm,  by  virtue  of  which 
men  have  done  their  most  heroic  deeds,  borne  the 
heaviest  burdens,  made  the  most  splendid  sacrifices; 
the  rationahst  system  of  morals  wholly  omits,  or 
faintly  recognizes,  trusting  all  to  interest  and  policy. 
But,  whilst  honoring  the  understanding,  Christianity 
exploits  the  heart  to  the  utmost,  finding  in  its  strong, 
pure  passions  the  best  guarantee  for  faithfulness  of 
life.  Love  to  God,  awakened  by  the  glorious  fact  that 
He  first  loves  us ;  love  to  Christ,  kindled  by  the  vision 
of  the  Cross;  love  for  the  Law  itself,  because  it  an- 
swers to  the  desires  and  preferences  of  the  renewed 
heart;  love  to  one  another,  in  the  fellowship  of  the 
same  redemption  and  the  same  hope, — and  the  sense 
of  painfulness  in  obedience  is  at  an  end.  Does  the 
Master  make  of  the  believer  a  poet  who  sees  in  the 
decalogue  a  lyric  and  a  symphony?  So  does  He  also 
convert  His  disciples  into  lovers  who  see  in  Him,  and 
in  His  law,  all  their  desire.  Perthes  writes  to  Jacobi, 
and  it  expresses  the  essence  of  the  matter:  "  Only 
the  man  who  is  possessed  by  love  can  solve  the  riddle 
of  our  being  and  of  our  freedom.  Love  is  the  visible 
form  of  freedom.  He  who  loves,  and  even  he  who 
does  not  love,  can  see  if  he  will  that  love  is  free  as 
nothing  in  the  world  besides.  I  am  in  bondage  if  I  do 
not  love,  and  I  cannot  love  if  I  am  in  bondage ;  and  he 
who  loves  knows,  as  none  else  does  know,  that  indi- 
vidual freedom  and  the  will  of  God  are  one  and  the 
same  thing."  Let  us  surrender  ourselves  wholly  to 
this  sovereign  passion,  and  the  ideal  life  shall  follow 
without  calculation,  strain,  or  distress. 

Unswerving  shall  we  move,  as  if  impelled 
By  strict  necessity  along  the  path 
Of  order  and  of  good. 


IX 

THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  SPIRITUAL  GROWTH 

Por  this  cause  we  also  .  .  .  do  not  cease  to  pray  and  make 
request  for  you,  that  ye  may  be  filled  zvith  the  knowledge  of  His 
will  in  all  spiritual  wisdom  and  understanding,  to  walk  worthily 
of  the  Lord  unto  all  pleasing,  bearing  fruit  in  every  good  work, 
and  increasing  in  the  knowledge  of  God. — Coi^ossians  i  :  9,  10. 


THE  scriptural  conception  of  the  saintly  char- 
acter and  career  is  that  of  an  ever-increasing 
strength  and  joy  fulness.  So  far  the  scrip- 
tural conception  is  in  agreement  with  the  general  law. 
It  was  said  of  William  Pitt,  "  He  never  grew ;  he  was 
cast " ;  yet,  as  a  rule,  the  normal  person  grows  men- 
tally in  power  and  resource.  Occasionally  a  youthful 
saint  may  astonish  us  by  his  completeness  of  character 
and  exceptional  ripeness  of  experience;  but  the  law  of 
the  spiritual  life  is  that  we  go  from  strength  to 
strength.     Revelation  everywhere  assumes  this. 

I.  Note,  then,  in  what  this  grozvth  consists.  It  is 
twofold,  a  growth  in  character  and  in  that  spiritual 
J)rinciple  of  which  character  is  the  expression. 

What  is  implied  in  the  growth  of  Christian  char- 
acter? The  grosser  sins  are  renounced  in  conversion. 
The  prophet  Daniel  addressed  Nebuchadnezzar, 
"  Wherefore,  O  king,  let  my  counsel  be  acceptable 
unto  thee,  and  break  off  thy  sins  by  righteousness  " 
(4:  27).  Broken  off,  short  and  sharp.  To  the  same 
effect  St.  Paul  writes:  "Let  us  therefore  cast  off  the 
works  of  darkness,  and  let  us  put  on  the  armor  of 

125 


126  THE  PKINCIPLE  OF 

light.  Let  us  walk  honestly,  as  in  the  day;  not  in 
revelling  and  drunkenness,  not  in  chambering  and  wan- 
tonness, not  in  strife  and  jealousy  "  (Rom.  13: 13,  13). 
But  other  faults  of  a  more  subtle  order  may  not  be 
discontinued  so  decisively,  although  renounced  in  spirit 
and  purpose.  We  have  heard  of  the  wonderful  way 
in  which  Luther  Burbank,  the  Californian  florist,  has 
succeeded  in  freeing"  "flowers  and  fruits  from  their 
original  bad  qualities.  He  has  grown  a  walnut  with- 
out tannin,  and  freed  it  from  its  disagreeable  taste; 
developed  a  dahlia  with  a  pleasant  instead  of  a  dis- 
agreeable odor;  produced  plums  and  apricots  without 
stones;  and  evolved  thornless  cacti.  So,  happily,  by 
the  grace  of  God,  are  those  who  follow  after  holiness 
freed  from  faults  of  constitution,  habit,  and  training. 
They  realize  with  joy  that  the  temper,  censoriousness, 
pride,  selfishness,  immoderation,  which  distorted  and 
distressed  earlier  days,  grow  fainter,  are  more  rarely 
troublesome,  fall  steadily  away. 

Beyond  the  elimination  of  evil  qualities,  we  may 
/realize  with  deep  satisfaction  that  even  the  defects  of 
^ur  character  are  mysteriously  becoming  merits.  That 
the  best  of  men  are  moulded  out  of  their  fault;  is  not 
unlikely;  as  we  have  the  defects  of  our  qualities,  we 
may  have  the  qualities  of  our  defects.  Virtues  some- 
times become  faults;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  vices 
arising  out  of  misdirected  energy  may  be  transformed 
into  positive  graces  when  once  the  heart  is  set  on  right 
ends,  as  indeed  we  see  in  the  cases  of  St.  John,  St. 
Peter,  and  St.  Paul.  Through  the  alchemy  of  grace 
the  blemish  becomes  a  perfection,  adorning  where  it 
once  disfigured.  A  naturalist  writing  in  My  Tropic 
Isle,  complains  that  whilst  the  flora  of  North  Queens- 
land is  most  showy,  the  absence  of  kindly  fruits  must 


SPIKITUAL  GROWTH  127 

be  regretted.  Immense  quantities,  alluring  in  form 
and  color,  are  produced,  without  a  single  variety  of 
real  excellence.  Quite  a  long  list  of  pretty  things 
might  be  compiled;  but  few  are  satisfactory,  the  ma- 
jority being  either  bitter,  acrid,  or  insipid.  However, 
the  disappointed  scientist  consoles  himself  with  proph- 
ecy. "  When  one  contemplates  the  unpromising 
origin  of  the  apple  of  to-day,  and  the  rich  assortment 
of  fruits  here  higher  in  the  scale  than  it,  imagination 
delights  to  dwell  upon  the  wonders  which  await  the 
skill  of  a  horticultural  genius.  The  crude  beginnings 
of  scores  of  pomological  novelties  are  flaunted  on  every 
side.  The  patient  man  has  to  come."  The  optimism 
is  justified,  for  our  choicest  fruits  have  been  produced 
by  skilful  culture  out  of  crabbed  and  poisonous  berries 
of  the  jungle.  So  from  the  wild  grapes  of  unregener- 
ate  life  does  the  Spirit  evolve  delightful  clusters  of 
fruit;  gifts,  energies,  and  passions  once  perverted  be- 
come pure  and  beautiful,  supposing  Christ  to  be  the 
gardener.  See  in  the  fifth  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to 
the  Galatians  how  largely  the  choice  vintage  of  the 
garden  of  God  proceeds  from  the  crude  growths  of 
Nature's  wilderness,  transmuted  by  the  hallowing 
Spirit.  Verses  19-21  show  the  jungle  and  its  bitter 
growths ;  whilst  the  succeeding  verses  present  a  vision 
of  the  same  transformed  into  more  than  the  purple 
grapes  of  Eshcol,  or  the  fabled  apples  of  gold.  "  The 
fruit  of  the  Spirit  is  love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffering, 
kindness,  goodness,  faithfulness,  meekness,  temper- 
ance "  (vers.  22,  23).  Let  us,  then,  regard  with  a  pa- 
tient mind  the  moral  blemishes  of  immature  believers, 
knowing  that  yet  they  may  bear  ripened  fruit  unto 
everlasting  life;  and  when  humbled  by  the  conscious- 
ness of  moral  failure,  let  us  still  be  hopeful  concerning 


128  THE  PKINCIPLE  OF 

ourselves,  keeping  ourselves  in  the  love  of  God,  the 
glorious  sunshine  in  which  every  Christian  grace  ma- 
tures and  ripens. 

Finally,  to  mark  the  fuller  development  of  our  weak 
graces  completes  our  joy.  Many  sincere  Christians, 
whilst  conscious  of  much  in  their  life  that  is  genuinely 
good,  are  distressed  to  find  it  so  faint ;  they  are  almost 
as  deeply  abased  by  the  sight  of  their  virtues  as  pained 
by  the  evidence  of  their  faults.  Victor  Hugo  says  of 
our  Queen  Anne,  "  No  quality  of  hers  attained  to  vir- 
tue, none  to  vice."  Whatever  we  may  say  of  our- 
selves concerning  the  latter,  we  have  reason  enough  to 
lament  the  faintness  of  the  former.  We  often  need  to 
pray: 

Forgive  our  faults,  forgive  our  virtues,  too. 
Those  lesser  faults,  half-converts  to  the  right. 

But  this  need  not  always  be.  It  is  delightfully  possible 
that  the  graces  of  to-day  so  sadly  lacking  in  the  glow 
and  glory  of  life  may  become  full  of  the  bloom  and 
sweetness  of  perfection.  The  distinguished  Califor- 
[nian  just  quoted  has  succeeded  in  raising  out  of  a  wild 
field  daisy  a  blossom  five  to  seven  inches  in  diameter; 
[gladioli  of  greatly  enhanced  beauty  he  has  taught  to 
flower  around  the  entire  stem,  instead  of  on  one  side 
only ;  the  poppy  he  has  so  enlarged  that  it  measures  ten 
inches  across  its  brilliant  bloom ;  and  the  amaryllis  has 
increased  in  diameter  from  two  inches  to  nearly  a  foot. 
Are  not  corresponding  enlargements  and  transfigura- 
tions possible  in  our  moral  and  spiritual  life?  Our 
present  graces  may  be  starved  and  meagre;  our  kind- 
ness, justice,  truth,  patience,  purity,  and  love,  of  the 
meanest  growth,  no  better  than  the  coarse  grasses  and 
dwarf  blossoms  of  the  prairie ;  and  yet  how  large  their 


SPIKITUAL  GEOWTH  129 

possibilities!  How  delicate  and  splendid  these  traits 
of  Christian  character  when  seen  in  the  Master,  and  in 
the  disciples  who  follow  Him  closely!  And  there  is 
no  strength,  serenity,  or  charm  that  we  admire  in  the 
elect  that  may  not  be  reproduced  in  the  weakest  of  us. 

Philosophers  with  little  sympathy  for  Christian  doc- 
trine generally  have  yet  believed  in  the  perfectibility  of 
human  nature;  although  their  idea  of  perfection  is  not 
that  of  our  Lord  and  His  apostles.  "  Ye  therefore 
shall  be  perfect,  as  your  heavenly  Father  is  perfect " 
(Matt.  5:48).  "A  new  commandment  I  give  unto 
you,  that  ye  love  one  another;  even  as  I  have  loved 
you,  that  ye  also  love  one  another''  (John  13:  34). 
"  Walk  worthily  of  the  Lord  unto  all  pleasing  "  (Col. 
1:  10).  "And  every  one  that  hath  this  hope  set  on 
Him  purifieth  himself;  even  as  He  is  pure"  (1  John 
3:3).  It  was  not  of  such  a  perfection  that  they 
dreamed.  The  pessimistic  philosophers  degraded  man 
to  prevent  him  from  imagining  that  he  could  have  any 
relation  to  God,  and  to  discourage  him  from  entertain- 
ing a  high  moral  ambition ;  whilst  the  most  enthusiastic 
optimists  never  proposed  for  emulation  a  moral  ideal 
much  beyond  the  level  of  the  best  existing  manhood. 
iBut  the  New  Testament  boldly  relates  us  to  God,  and 
demands  that  we  mirror  His  perfection ;  it  also  relates 
us  to  the  Son  of  Man,  in  whom  the  divine  ideal  of 
manhood  is  realized,  and  requires  that  we  "  walk 
worthily  "  of  His  sublime  character  and  ministry. 

Let  none  be  deaf  to  this  high  and  holy  calling,  as, 
alas,  we  are  too  prone  to  become.  How  easily  and 
imperceptibly  do  we  acquiesce  in  a  mediocre  experi- 
ence, and  think  it  the  whole  of  our  inheritance!  An 
ever-increasing  intensity  and  fruitfulness  of  Christian 
life  is  possible,  and  it  is  our  duty  to  strive  unceasingly 


130  THE  PKINCIPLE  OF 

for  the  fullness  of  the  blessing.  How  immense  the 
/distance  between  the  algae,  the  seaweed,  the  lowest 
/form  of  plant  life,  and  the  Victoria  Regia  of  the  Ama- 
Vzon,  whose  leaves  may  be  sixty  feet  across,  and  whose 
^flower  be  measured  by  the  yard!  Yes,  and  how  im- 
mense the  distance  between  the  spiritual  status  of  one 
Christian  and  another,  or  between  the  experience  of 
the  same  Christian  at  different  times !  Semper  tells  of 
two  varieties  of  butterfly,  long  regarded  by  entomolo- 
gists as  distinct  species,  but  which  are  in  fact  only  the 
summer  and  winter  forms  of  the  same  species.  So 
sharply  are  some  Christians  contrasted  that  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  believe  that  they  belong  to  the  same  spiritual 
order;  yet  they  do,  only  the  one  appears  in  strength 
and  glory,  the  other  in  apathy  and  unloveliness.  So 
widely  contrasted  is  the  experience  of  the  individual 
believer  at  different  times  that  he  can  hardly  regard 
himself  throughout  as  in  the  one  state  of  grace ;  yet  he 
is,  the  distinction  being  between  his  summer's  fullness 
of  life  and  the  stagnation  of  a  winter's  eclipse.  Breth- 
ren, it  is  high  time  that  we  wake  out  of  sleep,  put  on 
our  beautiful  garments,  glorify  our  Master  by  our  en- 
tire devotion  to  His  service.  "  Wherefore  let  us 
cease  to  speak  of  the  word  of  the  beginning  of  Christ, 
and  press  on  unto  full  growth  "  (Heb.  6: 1  and  marg.). 
n.  The  principle  of  grozvth.  The  origin  of  the 
Christian  character  is  a  new  heart  and  a  new  spirit, 
and  all  development  begins  with  that  inward  renewal, 
a  renewal  in  the  spirit  of  the  mind.  The  culture  of 
character  may  be  attempted  on  other  lines,  prompted 
by  different  motives,  dominated  by  independent 
models ;  but  such  culture  is  not  Christian.  Revelation 
teaches  that  character  is  based  on  a  spiritual  principle, 
a  principle  of  life,  and  its  growth  in  power  and  beauty 


SPIEITUAL  GKOWTH  131 

implies  a  fuller  expression  of  that  life.  It  is  therefore 
vain  to  seek  the  ennoblement  of  the  outer  life  unless 
we  are  careful  vigorously  to  maintain  the  interior  life. 
"  I  am  the  true  vine.  .  .  .  Abide  in  Me,  and  I  in 
you.  As  the  branch  cannot  bear  fruit  of  itself,  except 
it  abide  in  the  vine ;  so  neither  can  ye,  except  ye  abide 
in  Me"  (John  15:  1  and  4).  Here,  then,  the  vital 
truth  is  stated  without  theological  or  metaphysical 
verbiage;  the  principle  of  moral  perfection  is  affiance 
in  Christ.  He  is  absolutely  essential  to  the  realization 
of  all  the  high,  far-off  excellence  of  which  we  have  an 
intuition  and  to  which  we  sincerely  aspire.  In  His 
presence  we  must  dwell,  His  beauty  contemplate.  His 
merit  trust.  His  love  share,  into  His  spirit  drink,  and 
in  His  steps  we  must  follow.  As  the  vine  is  every- 
thing to  the  branch,  so  fellowship  with  Christ  is  every- 
thing to  the  aspiring  soul.  "  I  press  on,  if  so  be  that 
I  may  apprehend  that  for  which  also  I  was  appre- 
hended by  Christ  Jesus  "  (Phil.  3:  12). 

We  may  borrow  an  illustration  from  another  sphere 
to  help  us  to  understand  this  intimacy  and  oneness 
with  our  Lord.  John  Gibson,  the  famous  sculptor, 
writes  thus  in  his  diary :  "  I  renewed  my  visits  to  the 
Vatican.  It  is  not  to  criticize  that  I  go  there,  but  to 
seek  instruction  in  my  art,  which  the  Greeks  carried  to 
perfection.  Those  few  masterpieces  which  have  come 
down  to  us,  though  I  have  dwelled  upon  them  thou- 
sands of  times,  still  at  every  new  visit  are  contemplated 
by  me  with  fresh  w^onder  and  admiration,  such  is  the 
influence  which  anything  perfect,  both  in  design  and 
execution,  has  upon  the  mind.  Those  grand  works  of 
the  Greeks  are  ever  new,  and  always  produce  fresh 
enchantment  however  often  they  may  be  surveyed."  * 
^  Biography,  by  Matthews. 


132  THE  PRIKCIPLE  OF 

Thus  must  we  linger  over  the  pages  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, contemplating  closely  and  lovingly  the  living, 
speaking,  active  Jesus,  whilst  He  grows  upon  us,  more 
and  more  filling  our  imagination,  mind,  and  heart. 
We  can  grow  in  strength  and  grace  and  blessedness 
only  whilst  this  is  our  habit. 

We  must  grow  in  the  knowledge  of  Christ.  See 
our  text :  "  To  walk  worlHily  of  ^e  Lord  unto  all 
pleasing,  bearing  fruit  in  every  good  work,  and  in- 
creasing in  the  knowledge  of  God."  To  increase  in 
the  knowledge  of  Christ  is  to  increase  in  the  knowledge 
of  God;  He  is  the  only  true,  saving,  vivifying  source 
of  such  knowledge.  How  prone  we  are  to  think  that 
we  already  know  Christ,  when  indeed  we  only  know 
something  about  Him!  There  are  many  degrees  of 
knowledge,  and  we  have  not  fully  learned  Christ  until 
we  know  Him  and  the  power  of  His  resurrection. 
The  tourist  who,  guide-book  in  hand,  hurries  through 
the  Vatican  galleries,  may  flatter  himself  that  he  knows 
the  immortal  masterpieces,  and  for  the  rest  of  his  life 
talk  as  if  he  did ;  but  he  does  not  know  them  as  Gibson 
did,  who  had  "  dwelt  upon  them  "  intently  and  sym- 
pathetically "  thousands  of  times."  Really,  only  Gib- 
son knew  them  at  all.  So,  if  we  are  to  attain  to  the 
knowledge  of  Christ,  a  thousand  times  must  He  engage 
our  thought  and  affection,  and  each  time  it  will  be  with 
fresh  wonder  and  admiration.  Do  we  then  with  as- 
similating, identifying  knowledge  know  the  Lord? 
T"  Have  I  been  so  long  time  with  you,  and  dost  thou 
I  not  know  Me,  Philip  ?  "  How  many  of  us  might  the 
fjNlaster  similarly  reprove ! 

We  must  grow  in  the^faith^of  Christ.  Accepting 
Him  as  "  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life,"  it  is  essen- 
tial that  we  confide  increasingly  in  Him  as  such.    Then 


SPIKITUAL  GEOWTH  133 

in  the  midst  of  trouble  and  mystery  our  souls  will  ex- 
perience a  deeper  calm,  being  content  to  ask  Him  fewer 
anxious  questions.  But  having  confessed  our  sin  with 
the  sighings  of  a  contrite  heart,  let  us  once  for  all,  and 
with  growing  conviction,  shelter  in  His  merit,  trust  in 
His  grace,  expect  His  utmost  salvation ;  and  as  He  has 
given  us  solemn  assurances  for  the  great  future,  we 
may  with  unshaken  faith  boldly  face  death  and  the 
grave,  resting  upon  His  word  and  promise.  "  That 
we  may  be  no  longer  children,  tossed  to  and  fro  and 
carried  about  with  every  wind  of  doctrine,  by  the 
sleight  of  men,  in  craftiness,  after  the  wiles  of  error; 
but  dealing  truly  in  love,  may  grow  up,  in  all  things 
unto  Him,  which  is  the  head,  even  Christ "  (Eph. 
4:  14,  15).  In  his  Second  Epistle  to  the  Thessa- 
lonians  St.  Paul  writes :  "  We  are  bound  to  give  thanks 
to  God  alway  for  you  ...  for  that  your  faith 
groweth  exceedingly  *'  (1:  3).  Ever  more  deeply  sat- 
isfied with  the  hope  of  the  gospel,  let  us  once  attain  this 
**  full  assurance,"  and  to  us  the  promise  shall  be  ful- 
filled: "Thou  wilt  keep  him  in  perfect  peace,  whose 
mind  is  stayed  on  Thee:  because  he  trusteth  in  Thee  " 
(Isa.  26:3). 

Lastly,  we  must  grow  in  the  Ime^oi  Christ.  How 
continually  the  apostles  dwell  upon  this!  To  realize 
in  our  Saviour  more  vividly  the  good-will  of  God  to 
His  creatures,  His  unfailing  kindness  and  faithfulness. 
His  eternal  mercy  and  grace,  until  our  heart  glows  re- 
/sponsively,  this  is  to  grow  in  the  holiest  passion  of 
divine  love;  and  herein  is  plenty  of  room  to  grow. 
Shakespeare  affirms: 


There  lives  within  the  very  flame  of  love 
A  kind  of  wick  or  snuff  that  will  abate  it. 


134  THE  PKINCIPLE  OF 

Yet  most  of  us  know  even  a  human  love  in  which  this, 
happily,  is  not  true ;  and  as  we  apprehend  more  clearly 
the  love  and  beauty  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ 
we  become  conscious  of  an  adoring  affection  that  no 
kind  of  wick  or  snuff  can  abate,  and  in  this  white  inex- 
tinguishable flame  our  soul  and  its  felicity  are  per- 
fected. 

Here,  then,  is  the  secret  of  abounding  righteousness, 
that  we  live  in  close  fellowship  with  the  Lord.  "  He 
that  abideth  in  Me,  and  I  in  Him,  the  same  heareth 
much  fruit."  The  branch  abiding  in  the  vine  is  em- 
purpled with  many  clusters,  so  union  with  the  Lord 
adorns  with  every  grace. 

in.  The  condition  of  growth.  In  a  word,  it  is 
that  we  give  all  diligence  to  further  the  progress  of 
religion  in  the  soul.  That  the  kingdom  of  God  be 
fully  set  up  in  our  heart  and  life  must  be  our  com- 
manding thought,  our  supreme  purpose,  our  constant 
endeavor.  The  neglect  of  the  spirituality  of  life  whilst 
busy  with  many  things  means  the  decay  of  character, 
with  all  the  sad  experiences  which  that  decay  implies. 
In  every  department  of  life  the  cooperation  of  man  se- 
cures the  increase  of  God,  and  this  is  equally  true  of 
the  growth  and  glory  of  the  soul.  A  controversy 
amongst  theologians,  once  acute,  is  still  revived  from 
time  to  time.  It  turns  upon  the  question  as  to  whether 
sanctification  is  gradual  or  instantaneous,  whether  it  is 
attained  by  one  definite  act  or  by  a  more  or  less  pro- 
longed striving;  some  holding  that  in  a  favored  hour, 
by  an  act  of  consecration  and  faith,  the  believer  scales 
the  heights  of  purity  and  joy;  whilst  others  dog- 
matically contend  for  the  ascent  by  degrees  through 
the  sanctification  of  the  discipline  of  life.  May  not 
both  theories  be  true?     Not  so  long  ago  it  was  the 


SPIRITUAL  GEOWTH  136 

dogmatic  assertion  of  the  evolutionist  that  a  new 
species  of  plant  was  the  result  of  a  long  series  of  mi- 
nute and  imperceptible  modifications,  and  that  any- 
thing of  the  nature  of  a  leap  was  unthinkable ;  but  now 
sudden,  inexplicable  variations  in  plant  life  are  gener- 
ally recognized,  and  it  seems  likely  that  the  science  of 
the  future  will  find  a  place  for  both  explanations. 
Why  may  not  the  evolution  of  character  comprehend 
the  two  rival  methods  of  sanctification — the  act  of 
faith  and  the  habit  of  faith,  the  discipline  of  many 
days  and  experiences  and  the  sudden  vision  and  uplift- 
ing that  puts  all  life  on  a  higher  plane  and  brings  into 
it  a  purity,  power,  and  joyousness  that  it  never  knew 
before  ?  The  two  theories  are  reconciled  in  the  experi- 
ence of  many  saints. 

Let  our  theory  be  what  it  may,  no  high  or  higher 
stage  of  life  will  be  reached  without  whole-hearted  de- 
votion. Again  and  again  in  meditation  and  prayer  we 
must  renew  our  strength.  We  have  just  seen  how 
Gibson  resorted  "  thousands  of  times  "  to  the  galleries 
of  the  Vatican  that  he  might  study  beauty  of  form  in 
the  masterpieces  of  marble ;  and  in  so  doing  kindle  his 
own  genius;  so  the  psalmist  frequented  the  sanctuary 
that  he  might  "  behold  the  beauty  of  the  Lord  "  and 
bear  away  somewhat  of  its  lustre.  We  must  often  be 
found  in  the  same  place  if  we  are  to  know  a  growing 
beauty  of  spirit.  The  word  of  the  Lord  too  must  be 
our  daily  study.  The  Chinese  have  a  saying  to  the 
effect  that  "  if  reading  be  discontinued  for  three  days, 
conversation  loses  its  flavor.'*  Does  not  the  most  tem- 
porary neglect  of  the  great  book  mean  that  our  spir- 
itual life  misses  quickening  qualities?  And  we  must 
ever  be  alert  to  the  teachings  of  concurrent  discipline; 
observant  of  the  endless  vicissitudes  of  life,  so  that  we 


136  THE  PRIJ^CIPLE  OF 

may  learn  their  varied  lessons  to  the  increase  of  our 
knowledge,  the  growing  certitude  of  our  faith,  the  per- 
fecting of  our  obedience. 

We  are  warned  most  solemnly  and  repeatedly 
against  slackness.  As  Professor  Simpson  writes  con- 
cerning natural  growth,  "  The  process  of  growth  when 
once  begun  cannot  be  arrested:  it  must  proceed  or  the 
organism  will  disintegrate  immediately."  *  So  we  may 
fear  the  decay  of  the  work  of  grace  in  the  soul.  Let 
us  watch  lest  by  inertia  and  carelessness  we  forfeit  the 
great  attributes  and  possibilities  of  our  spiritual  na- 
ture. Let  our  prevailing,  pervasive,  passionate  thought 
be  that  we  so  live  to  God  that  we  may  become  more 
like  Him  and  more  fit  to  see  His  face. 

IV.  The  joy  of  growth  must  not  be  forgotten. 
How  real  is  the  pleasure  of  growing  out  of  old  faults! 
To  get  rid  of  failures  and  frailties  that  have  cost  bitter 
tears,  thoroughly  purged  from  old  sins,  is  beatitude 
indeed.  To  be  conscious  that  the  defects  of  our  char- 
acter suffer  a  change  into  sterling  qualities  is  a  delight- 
ful experience.  An  artistic  lady  of  our  acquaintance 
unluckily  made  a  blot  in  her  album,  but  ultimately  con- 
trived to  color  and  gild  it  so  that  it  now  adorns  the 
page  it  once  disfigured.  To  effect  a  corresponding 
change  in  character,  to  see  the  blemish  pass  into  beauty, 
the  stain  glow  into  a  star,  is  to  rejoice  with  exceeding 
great  joy.  To  observe  elementary  graces  mellowing 
into  matured  excellence  is  a  rare  source  of  delight, 
appealing  to  all  jaded  saints.  "  Man's  highest  action 
is  to  reach  up  higher,"  and  to  reach  forth  to  the  fuller 
glory  of  Christian  character  is  an  exquisite  satisfaction 
to  all  who  attempt  it.  And  it  is  a  lasting,  perennial 
joy.  In  Miss  Kingsley's  book  Eversley  Gardens  oc- 
^  Spiritual  Interpretation  of  Nature,  p.  15. 


SPIKITUAL  GKOWTH  137 

curs  this  praise  of  her  sweet  domain:  "  For  unlike 
other  works  of  art,  there  is  no  finality  in  such  a  garden. 
The  picture  once  painted,  the  statue  once  sculptured,  it 
is  finished.  But  the  garden  goes  on  growing  as  long 
as  time  and  love  of  it  shall  last,  each  succeeding  year 
adding  some  fresh  touch  to  the  beautiful  conception, 
and  this  Garden  of  Delight  never  fails  in  fresh  sur- 
prises." How  suggestive  is  this  of  the  soul  growing 
in  spiritual  wisdom  and  understanding,  in  the  knowl- 
edge and  love  of  God,  in  the  beauty  of  holiness !  There 
is  a  morality  that  resembles  the  picture  once  painted, 
the  statue  once  sculptured;  ecclesiastical  morality,  like 
that  of  the  Pharisees;  calculated  morality,  like  that  of 
the  schools.  Here  all  is  formal,  mechanical;  it  may 
soon  be  learned,  and  once  learned  is  final.  But  the 
righteousness  of  God  is  a  living  thing.  Unlike  statue 
/or  picture,  it  has  no  finality ;  like  a  garden,  it  goes  on 
growing  whilst  life  and  love  of  it  shall  last,  each  season 
adding  to  its  charm,  whilst  it  never  fails  in  fresh 
surprises,  and  time  does  not  breathe  on  its  fadeless 
bloom. 


THE    CONQUEST    OF    INVIDIOUS 

CIRCUMSTANCE 

And  the  Lord  shall  guide  thee  continually,  and  satisfy  thy  soul 
in  dry  places,  and  make  strong  thy  bones;  and  thou  shalt  he  like 
a  watered  garden,  and  like  a  spring  of  water,  whose  waters  fail 
not. — Isaiah  58:  ii. 

IF  our  intellectual  and  spiritual  welfare  is  the  main 
end  of  life,  it  must  often  appear  as  though  the 
multitude  was  badly  placed,  as  though  indeed  a 
large  section  of  it  was  exceedingly  unfortunate.  In 
great  cities  the  nature  of  the  employments,  the  mean 
streets,  the  squalid  surroundings  of  the  masses  seem 
directly  inimical  to  their  higher  nature.  Really,  the 
rustic  scene  is  little  better,  if  it  is  at  all.  The  gay  flow- 
ers, the  golden  corn,  the  lily-sprinkled  meadows,  can- 
not effectually  hide  the  many  coarsening  associations 
of  peasant  life.  And  not  only  is  the  environment  de- 
pressing, but  well-nigh  everything  pertaining  to  the 
calling  and  experience  of  these  people  appears  belit- 
tling. The  gray  lot  is  relieved  by  a  few  sparkles  of 
poetry  or  gleams  of  romance;  practically  they  are 
strangers  to  great  literature  or  art;  only  for  a  privi- 
leged hour  do  thousands  steal  a  glimpse  of  mountain, 
forest,  or  sea;  and  to  them  the  very  heavens  are  ob- 
scured by  clouds  of  dust  and  smoke. 

How  can  we,  then,  expect  that  men  and  women  thus 
situated  should  attain  to  nobleness  and  saintliness,  or 

138 


Il!TYIDIOUS  CIECUMSTANCE  139 

acquire  and  exhibit  fine  qualities?  Everything  seems 
calculated  to  deny  such  expectations,  and  to  induce  us 
to  conclude  that  the  mediocrity  of  environment  would 
be  reflected  in  mediocrity  of  character.  And  the  worst 
of  the  case  is  that  when  we  find  ourselves  in  unpromis- 
ing situations  we  so  readily  adopt  the  pessimistic  view, 
and  on  this  ground  excuse  our  inferiority  of  character, 
our  faintness,  dullness,  joylessness.  It  seems  almost 
logical  to  infer  that  the  unsatisf actor iness  of  our 
higher  life  is  a  necessary  consequence  of  a  secular  life 
destitute  of  inspiration  and  opportunity.  How  impor- 
tant, then,  that  we  be  on  our  guard  against  this  in- 
sidious error,  and  keep  steadily  in  view  our  just  rela- 
tion to  circumstance!  And  how  inspiring  to  remem- 
ber not  only  that  we  be  able  to  withstand  adverse  cir- 
cumstance, but  actually  to  extort  from  it  the  enhance- 
ment of  our  highest  self ! 

Dr.  Croll  writes  strongly  on  the  influence  of  climate 
upon  whatever  comes  within  its  range.  "  The  flora 
and  fauna  of  a  district  are  determined  mainly  by  the 
character  of  the  climate,  and  not  by  the  nature  of  the 
soil,  or  the  conformation  of  the  ground.  It  is  from 
difference  of  climate  that  tropical  life  differs  so  much 
from  Arctic,  and  both  these  from  the  life  of  temperate 
regions.  It  is  climate,  and  climate  alone,  that  causes 
the  orange  and  the  vine  to  blossom,  and  the  olive  to 
flourish  in  the  South,  but  denies  them  to  the  North,  of 
Europe.  It  is  climate,  and  climate  alone,  that  enables 
the  forest  tree  to  grow  on  the  plain,  but  not  on  the 
mountain  top ;  that  causes  wheat  and  barley  to  flourish 
on  the  mainland  of  Scotland,  but  not  on  the  steppes  of 
Siberia."'  Such  is  the  absolutism  of  climate,  pure 
and  simple.  Yet,  if  climate  counts  for  so  much,  and 
^Climate  and  Time, 


140  THE  CONQUEST  OP 

the  nature  of  the  soil  for  so  little,  in  relation  to  vegeta- 
tion, the  environment  becomes  less  despotic  in  relation 
to  animal  life,  for  the  naturaHst  discovers  that  **  there 
is  in  many  creatures  an  extraordinary  defiance  of  cir- 
cumstances— a  refusal  to  admit  handicaps."  And  Dr. 
Thomson  points  out  an  illuminating  fact  when  he  tells 
us  that  "  in  the  higher  plants,  as  in  the  higher  animals, 
there  seems  to  be  relatively  greater  freedom  from  the 
direct  grip  of  environment."  * 

Rising  to  the  plane  of  natural,  rational  life,  we  find 
that  although  the  external  world  does  greatly  influence 
human  character  and  destiny,  there  is  nevertheless  in 
the  Hfe  of  the  race  a  still  larger  freedom  from  the 
grip  of  environment.  The  external  is  no  longer  the 
main  factor.  All  history  is  a  record  of  the  revolt  of 
the  spirit  against  the  sovereignty  of  circumstance,  and 
of  the  victories  of  the  human  will  in  the  gigantic  con- 
flict; the  enduring  interest  and  fascination  of  history 
is  found  in  this  fact.  The  whole  fabric  of  civilization 
testifies  to  the  power  of  the  mind  in  moulding  obstinate 
circumstance  to  the  ideal.  How  much  we  owe  to  men 
of  spirit  who  refused  to  capitulate  to  poverty,  hard- 
ship, hostility,  and  misfortune!  But  it  is  only  when 
we  come  to  consider  our  moral  and  spiritual  experi- 
ence that  we  understand  how  complete  is  our  conquest 
of  invidious  circumstance.  The  New  Testament 
knows  nothing  of  the  advantage  of  position,  and  never 
congratulates  the  believer  upon  having  secured  a  pleas- 
ant place  or  a  goodly  heritage ;  it  occupies  itself  wholly 
with  the  interior  life,  with  the  inspiration  of  the  power 
that  avails  to  save  and  perfect,  whatever  may  be  the 
difficulty  of  the  situation.  According  to  Christian 
teaching,  it  is  rather  the  quality  of  the  soil  than  the 
^The  Biology  of  the  Seasons. 


INVIDIOUS  CIKCUMSTANCE  Ul 

climate  that  makes  the  spiritual  wastes  to  rejoice  and 
the  moral  deserts  to  blossom  as  the  rose. 

In  the  intellectual  world  the  reality  and  transcend- 
ence of  genius — that  is,  of  inward,  inborn  power — is 
universally  acknowledged.  The  famous  pictures  of 
J.  F.  Millet  were  painted  in  a  cold,  damp  room,  with- 
out a  fireplace  and  lighted  by  one  little  window,  all 
his  accessories,  mediums,  and  instruments  being  of  the 
humblest.  Yet  in  this  depressing  outhouse,  with  the 
chill  of  poverty  in  his  bones,  rarely  a  gleam  of  success 
to  cheer  him,  he  created  those  masterpieces  for  which 
nations  contend.  Artists  of  another  order  require  a 
comfortable  atelier,  studied  lights,  delicate  tools,  and 
purest  colors;  and  even  then  fail  of  fame.  Why  did 
Millet  with  all  his  disadvantages  achieve  such  extra- 
ordinary distinction?  The  answer  springs  to  every 
lip:  Because  it  was  in  him!  These  exceptional  men 
excel  by  virtue  of  a  gift  none  can  explain.  They  are 
born  with  a  mysterious,  divine  faculty  which  enables 
them  to  reach  perfection  without  requiring  the  coop- 
eration of  circumstance — ^nay,  in  the  teeth  of  it.  The 
piercing  perception,  the  rich  imagination,  the  firm  hold 
of  truth,  the  magic  touch  delicately  obedient  to  the 
vision,  render  the  artist  independent  of  accidents  of 
place,  season,  material,  and  instrument.  What  genius 
is  to  the  artist  the  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  is  to  the 
saint.  In  His  conversation  with  the  woman  at  the 
well  our  Lord  gave  vivid  expression  to  the  central 
principle  of  His  faith — ^the  reality  and  sufficiency  of 
the  inward  life.  "  Every  one  that  drinketh  of  this 
water  shall  thirst  again:  but  whosoever  drinketh  of 
the  water  that  I  shall  give  him  shall  never  thirst ;  but 
the  water  that  I  shall  give  him  shall  become  in  him  a 
well  of  water  springing  iip  unto  eternal  life  "  (John 


142  THE  CONQUEST  OF 

4:  13,  14).  Fullness  of  spiritual  power  issuing  from 
the  heart,  hallowing  all  channels,  overflowing  all  bar- 
riers with  streams  of  blessing — ^this  is  the  promise  of 
the  gospel. 

Our  Lord  teaches  His  disciples  that  worldly  con- 
ditions are  of  slight  significance;  the  highest  rewards 
of  His  kingdom  are  offered  to  and  are  attainable  by  all 
sorts  and  conditions  of  men.  The  scenery  is  nothing, 
the  difficulties  or  facilities  of  the  path  are  nothing,  the 
fare  with  which  he  meets  is  nothing;  the  abounding 
strength  of  the  pilgrim  is  the  one  essential  thing. 
Other  teachers  are  copious  concerning  conditions,  and 
meticulous  in  their  instructions  as  to  what  one  ought 
to  seek  or  shun  in  secular  and  social  life;  but  our 
Lord  practically  ignores  the  whole  matter,  and  trusts 
the  solution  of  the  problem  to  the  energy  of  the  soul. 
The  apostles  follow  the  cue.  "  According  to  the  power 
that  worketh  in  us  "  is  the  refrain  of  St.  Paul.  What 
he  desires  for  his  converts  is  not  that  the  lines  may 
fall  to  them  in  pleasant  places,  but  that  they  may  be 
"strengthened  (*made  powerful,'  marg.)  with  all 
power,  according  to  the  might  of  His  glory  .  .  . 
bearing  fruit  unto  every  good  work,  and  increasing 
in  the  knowledge  of  God  ''  (Col.  1:  10).  After  that, 
the  stage,  its  properties,  and  the  part  they  play  on  it 
are  no  longer  of  absorbing  consequence.  In  the  sun- 
dry brief  advices  which  he  tenders  to  the  members  of 
the  churches  respecting  their  domestic  and  social  rela- 
tions, their  employment  and  status,  the  locality  in 
which  they  find  themselves,  the  circumstances  of  their 
case  generally,  all  is  viewed  as  a  matter  of  prudence 
and  convenience,  never  as  an  essential  and  decisive 
factor.  "  Let  each  man  abide  in  that  calling  wherein 
he  was  called.    Wast  thou  called  being  a  bond-servant? 


INVIDIOUS  CIRCUMSTANCE  143 

Care  not  for  it:  but  if  thou  canst  become  free,  use  it 
rather.  .  .  .  Brethren,  let  each  man,  wherein  he 
was  called,  therein  abide  with  God"  (1  Cor.  7:  30- 
24).  If  the  force,  fire,  and  freshness  of  the  soul  be 
maintained;  if  faith,  love,  and  hope  abound,  however 
the  outward  life  shapes  itself,  it  may  serve  the  spirit, 
and  whatever  befalls  in  earthly  fortune  may  become  an 
enriching  discipline. 

**  Very  wonderful  is  the  adaptation  of  desert  plants 
to  their  extremely  difficult  conditions.  In  the  deserts, 
as  of  Africa  and  Arabia,  all  the  vegetation  that  exists 
has  to  maintain  itself  for  some  nine  months  in  the 
year  without  a  drop  of  rain.  Many  plants  are,  how- 
ever, provided  with  means  of  storing  water  within 
their  tissues;  others  have  salt-secreting  glands  which 
absorb  the  heavy  dews  of  summer,  and  convey  the 
moisture  to  the  interior  of  the  plant.  When  we  look 
with  the  microscope  into  the  structure  of  the  tissue 
of  desert  plants,  we  find  innumerable  features  which 
prove  that  they  are  as  much  cared  for  under  the  con- 
ditions in  which  they  live  as  the  finest  palm-tree  or  oak 
in  more  favored  places.  The  humblest  moss  and  the 
scrubbiest  desert  plant  show  marvellous  structures  in 
perfect  adaptation  to  their  respective  wants,  and  are 
fitted  to  survive  in  their  acrid  homes."  *  He  who  thus 
constituted  the  desert  plant,  who  made  of  it  a  "  bundle 
of  adaptations,"  so  that  it  braves  burning  suns  and 
scorching  blasts  by  reason  of  its  secret  refreshments, 
surprising  the  wilderness  with  its  splendid  blossoms, 
can  also  succor  the  soul  in  desolate  places,  causing  it 
to  abound  in  heavenly  beauty  and  fruit.  We  who  are 
embarrassed  by  religious  opportunity  often  forget  that 
numbers,  hungering  and  thirsting  after  righteousness, 
*Henslow,  Bible  Plant-teaching. 


144  THE  CONQUEST  OF 

are  shut  up  to  the  fewest  and  crudest  means  of  grace. 
Only  at  irregular  intervals  can  they  join  in  public  wor- 
ship; the  fellowship  of  the  saints  is  their  rarest  privi- 
lege; the  teaching  and  communion  open  to  them  are 
meagre  as  well  as  scanty;  and  yet  they  retain  their 
spirituality,  renew  their  strength,  and  bear  the  fruits 
of  righteousness  in  their  season.  As  the  heath  of  the 
desert  and  the  humblest  moss  survive  in  the  austerest 
conditions,  as  well  as  the  palm  and  oak  in  favored 
places,  so  do  sincere  souls  find  refreshment  in  forlorn 
surroundings,  and  show  forth  the  power  and  beauty  of 
holiness  where  one  would  least  expect.  They  illustrate 
the  reality  and  efficacy  of  direct  communion  with  God. 
Are  we  not  continually  witnesses  of  this  delightful 
fact?  We  discover  the  purest,  largest,  noblest  char- 
acter amid  heart-breaking  circumstance.  In  squalid 
streets,  worn  by  vulgar  toil,  without  a  single  redeem- 
ing feature  of  privilege,  we  may  any  day  come  into 
contact  with  men  and  women  pure  as  snow,  true  as 
steel,  good  as  gold.  In  the  forecastle,  the  camp,  the 
mine,  in  places  and  vocations  whose  atmosphere  would 
seem  directly  to  threaten  refinement  of  any  kind,  we 
meet  with  those  who  charm  and  humble  us  by  their 
excellence  of  spirit  and  conduct.  Personally  they 
form  a  perfect  contrast  to  the  sphere  in  which  they 
spend  their  days.  With  the  slenderest  aids  great  men 
in  every  generation  have  made  wonderful  discoveries, 
wrought  imperishable  works,  achieved  famous  victo- 
ries; and  in  every  generation  simple  souls  by  living 
near  to  God  have,  whilst  almost  entirely  devoid  of  any 
external  immunity  or  incitement,  grown  sublime.  Just 
as  in  Nature  we  sometimes  see  what  wonderful  effects 
the  divine  power  can  produce  by  a  spark  of  fire,  a  grain 
of  dust,  a  phantom  film,  a  passing  breath,  so  in  a 


INVIDIOUS  CIRCUMSTANCE  145 

higher  sphere  we  see  how  the  God  of  all  grace  can  with 
the  strictest  economy  of  circumstance  and  ceremony 
bring  forth  saints  of  unsurpassable  moral  splendor. 
Indeed,  it  often  seems  as  though  moral  intensity  de- 
creased as  opportunities  and  encouragements  multiply, 
whilst  paucity  of  privilege  intensifies  zeal  and  adds  to 
character  unwonted  lustre.  Fuseli  complained  con- 
cerning art  students,  "  As  the  conveniences  and  instru- 
ments of  study  increase,  so  will  also  the  exertions  of 
the  students  decrease.'*  Strange  that  it  should  be  so; 
yet  it  appears  too  often  the  case  alike  in  intellectual 
and  moral  education.  All  the  virtues  are  found  in 
wilderness  places — kindness,  temperance,  faithfulness, 
unselfishness,  purity. 

In  Brazilian  forests  no  objects  are  said  to  be  so 
striking  as  the  orchids.  To  give  an  idea  of  the  beauty 
and  splendid  colorings  of  these  flowers  resort  must 
be  had  to  colored  plates,  and  even  then  but  a  faint  idea 
of  their  magnificent  appearance  in  their  native  sites 
can  be  given.  Yet  some  of  the  most  beautiful  grow 
in  forests  so  gloomy  that  they  often  escape  notice,  and 
it  is  surprising  that  they  flourish  where  they  get  so 
little  light.  So  in  dim  and  sordid  scenes  we  welcome 
with  surprise  shining  examples  of  integrity,  tender- 
ness, and  sacrifice,  of  simple  and  sublime  goodness, 
not  to  be  excelled  by  any  instances  of  cloistered  virtue. 
We  may  well  believe  that  these  saints  often  escape 
notice;  and  it  is  marvellous  how  they  flourish  in  such 
gloom ;  but  as  the  sun  acts  where  it  does  not  shine,  so 
the  Spirit  of  health  and  holiness  operates  secretly  in 
the  souls  of  the  humble,  although  without  visible  signs 
of  His  presence  and  influence.  "  The  light  shineth  in 
the  darkness;  and  the  darkness  overcame  it  not" 
(John  1:  5,  R.  v.  marg.). 


146  THE  CONQUEST  OF 

We  have  long  been  familiar  with  the  diatribes  of 
poet  and  aesthete  against  the  industrialism  responsible 
for  spoliation  of  beautiful  scenery.  The  railway  and 
colliery,  the  factory,  furnace  and  forge,  the  chemical 
works  and  potteries,  are  denounced  because  they 
darken  the  sky,  blight  the  forest,  defile  the  rivulet, 
scare  the  lark  and  nightingale,  and  turn  the  green  and 
pleasant  land  into  a  ghastly  wilderness.  All  of  which 
is  plausible  enough;  only  there  is  another  side,  and  a 
truer.  Whatever  may  be  said  of  the  glory  of  Na- 
ture, the  meaning  of  the  earth  is  man;  and  it  may  well 
be  that  occasion  will  arise  when  the  former  must  be 
more  or  less  sacrificed  in  the  interests  of  the  latter. 
The  ugliness,  uncleanness,  and  unhappiness  of  a  great 
city  may  seem  a  poor  exchange  for  the  delight  of 
spring  and  the  pageantry  of  summer,  for  the  fragrance 
of  the  flower  and  the  splendor  of  the  butterfly ;  but  the 
real  significance  of  the  pandemonium  is  not  all  at  once 
apparent.  We  go  on  repeating,  "  God  made  the  coun- 
try, man  the  town  " ;  but  God  made  both,  and  on  the 
latter  His  eye  and  heart  are  chiefly  fixed.  "  When  He 
made  firm  the  skies  above ;  when  the  fountains  of  the 
deep  became  strong:  when  He  gave  to  the  sea  its 
bound:  when  He  marked  out  the  foundations  of  the 
earth :  then  I,  Wisdom,  was  by  Him,  as  a  master  work- 
man: and  I  was  daily  His  delight;  rejoicing  in  His 
habitable  earth;  and  my  delight  was  with  the  sons  of 
men"  (Prov.  8:28-31).  In  the  murky  roaring, 
crowded  city  the  supreme  purpose  of  the  Most  High 
is  being  most  fully  accomplished  in  the  discipline  of 
souls,  the  production  of  righteous  character,  the  evolu- 
tion of  strong  and  beautiful  lives.  In  the  moral  issues 
of  the  complex  and  troubled  life  of  the  million  is  to 
be  sought  the  ultimate  reason  for  the  existence  and 


INVIDIOUS  CIECUMSTANCE  U7 

government  of  the  world,  and  the  adequate  justifica- 
tion of  all  that  is.  When  we  contemplate  the  city  we 
find  cause  chiefly  for  satire  or  sorrow,  but  He,  who 
seeth  not  as  man  seeth,  beholds  the  three  thousand 
faithful  ones  where  we  see  only  one  in  the  mirror ;  and 
in  the  tested  virtues  of  the  obscure  multitude  He 
recognizes  a  glory  and  worth  beyond  all  the  grandeur 
of  mountains,  the  purity  of  seas,  the  charm' of  land- 
scapes, and  the  flowers  of  the  field.  It  were  a  sin 
wantonly  to  set  foot  on  a  daisy,  but  the  goodness  of  the 
humble  worked  out  in  the  stress  and  strain  of  com- 
mon life  is  of  sublimer  moment  than  all  the  glories 
of  matter.  To  be  one  in  the  unknown  throng,  subject 
to  all  the  intricate  and  wonderful  discipline  of  life,  is 
a  prerogative  that  may  satisfy  the  most  ambitious. 

Let  none,  then,  repine  at  their  station,  wasting  time 
in  longing  for  other  things  than  such  as  they  have, 
greater  things  and  more  congenial,  or  things  of  ap- 
parently superior  promise.  The  scale  of  our  steward- 
ship may  be  small,  its  items  meagre,  the  situation  ob- 
scure, the  duty  involved,  insipid,  and  irksome,  yet  in 
the  discharge  of  the  obvious  duties  of  our  calling, 
wherever  and  whatever  it  may  be,  lies  all  the  possi- 
bilities of  the  soul.  Our  consuming  solicitude  should 
be  that  we  grasp  the  circumstances  of  the  hour,  learn 
their  lesson,  apprehend  whatever  they  promise  of 
knowledge  and  strength.  Then  the  rudest  lot  will  not 
prejudice  any  more  than  the  uncouth  shell  of  the 
oyster  injures  the  pearl  which  it  only  serves  to  fashion 
and  protect.  The  eye  may  be  grievously  offended  by 
the  aspect  of  things,  but  the  soul  has  secrets  of  its 
own  by  which  it  derives  sublime  nurture  from  the 
most  ordinary  opportunities  and  exercises.  The  roots 
of  plants  have  a  peculiar  property  known  to  botanists 


14S  THE  CONQUEST  OF 

as  "  selective  capacity,"  which  enables  them  to  find  and 
absorb  such  substances  in  the  soil  as  are  essential  to 
their  growth,  although  these  may  exist  in  extremely 
minute  quantity.  Plants  requiring  lime  will  grow  on 
granite  which  contains  the  least  amount  of  lime.  Sea- 
weeds absorb  from  sea-water  sufficient  phosphorus — 
one  of  the  essential  elements  to  the  life  of  all  plants — 
though  the  amount  of  phosphorus  in  sea-water  is  so 
excessively  small  that  it  is  quite  impossible  to  estimate 
it.*  But  think  of  the  "  selective  capacity  "  of  the  soul ! 
How  it  draws  the  sap  of  reverence,  gratitude,  wisdom, 
courage,  beauty,  from  sites,  material,  and  events  ap- 
parently destitute  of  all  moral  value  whatever!  The 
great  body  of  the  saints  trudges  along  the  common 
highway  gathering  at  every  step  dust  of  spiritual  gold, 
where  the  carnal  eye  discerns  only  the  dismal,  the 
contemptible,  the  painful. 

Do  we  always  apprehend  the  serious  nature  of  our 
f retf ulness  ?  We  often  think  that  we  are  finding  fault 
with  men  when  in  fact  we  are  complaining  against 
God.  Moses  said  to  the  people  in  the  wilderness, 
"  The  Lord  heareth  your  murmurings  which  ye  mur- 
mur against  Him:  and  what  are  we?  Your  murmur- 
ings are  not  against  us,  but  against  the  Lord  "  (Exod. 
16:  8).  We  are  often  open  to  the  same  reproach. 
The  things  that  vex  are  in  Nature,  in  the  order  of 
Providence,  ah !  even  in  the  purposes  of  grace.  Ana- 
lyze the  rrturmur,  and  it  proves  a  criticism  of  God 
rather  than  of  friends,  masters,  leaders,  governments. 
Let  us  beware  lest  we  come  into  the  catalogue  of  Jude, 
"  These  are  murmurers,  complainers,  walking  after 
their  lusts"  (16).  And  what  is  the  justification  of 
our  dissatisfaction?  Have  we  forgotten  that  the  end 
*  Arber,  Plant  Life  in  Alpine  Switzerland, 


INVIDIOUS  CIRCUMSTANCE  149 

of  the  divine  government  is  not  to  make  us  comfort- 
able, but  to  make  us  pure?  Are  we  satisfied  that  we 
have  so  improved  past  opportunities  that  we  merit 
something  better?  Are  we  not  overlooking  the  maj- 
esty and  mercy  of  the  least  of  God's  gifts  and  appoint- 
ments? Thinkers  are  never  more  filled  with  wonder 
than  when  they  contemplate  the  "leasts"  of  His 
works,  and  shall  not  we  when  we  recall  the  least  of 
His  mercies?  Oh,  the  wonderful  patience  and  long- 
suffering  of  God ! 

Appreciate  your  present  situation,  whatever  it  may 
be.  Forbes  Robinson  writes  a  friend,  "  I  hate  the  un- 
settled feeling  that  I  have  not  yet  begun  my  main 
work/'  Contentment  with  our  present  place  and  work 
is  the  truest  wisdom  and  an  immense  gain.  "And 
the  Lord  shall  guide  thee  continually."  If  it  pleases 
Him  to  change  the  situation,  all  well  and  good;  but 
in  the  meantime  our  present  work  may  be  our  main 
work,  and  for  the  high  purposes  of  life  by  no  means 
as  unfriendly  as  we  suppose.  We  seriously  defraud 
ourselves  by  this  endless  quarrel  with  our  surround- 
ings, fretting  for  something  we  fancy  more  worthy  of 
us,  something  of  more  manifest  importance.  It  is  we 
who  ought  to  be  important,  and  nothing  is  more  cal- 
culated to  make  us  so  than  faithfulness  to  present 
duty.  God  leads  His  children  aright.  Golden  and 
purple  fruits  not  rarely  grow  best  in  stubborn  soils, 
and  He  makes  no  mistake  when  plants  of  His  right- 
hand  planting  are  assigned  an  arid  patch.  Fit  your- 
self where  you  find  yourself  by  cheerful  diligence  for 
whatever  station  you  may  think  best,  trusting  heaven 
to  open  up  to  you  that  better  lot.  Do  not  waste  life 
in  coveting  what  cannot  be  obtained.  Give  an  intimate 
application  to  Whittier's  song: 


150  INVIDIOUS  CIRCUMSTANCE 

He  who  wanders  widest  lifts 
No  more  of  beauty's  jealous  veils 
Than  he  who  from  his  doorway  sees 
The  miracle  of  flowers  and  trees. 

Our  main  care  must  be  to  maintain  in  vigor  our 
spiritual  life.  The  world  that  presses  upon  us,  threat- 
ening to  belittle  and  befoul,  becomes  formidable  only 
when  we  allow  the  spiritual  element  in  our  personal 
life  to  decline;  then  it  is  that  circumstance  narrows, 
degrades,  destroys.  So  long  as  an  active  spiritual 
imagination  is  preserved  enabling  us  to  see  the  real 
nature  and  greatness  of  apparently  insignificant  cir- 
cumstance, and  the  spiritual  energy  is  cherished  which 
defies  a  corrupting  environment,  we  are  secure, 
triumphant,  progressive;  the  danger  sets  in  when  the 
integrity  of  the  soul  ceases.  By  meditation,  worship, 
and  the  daily  study  of  the  sacred  page,  let  us  renew  our 
spiritual  strength  and  vision,  and  the  monotonies  of 
life  shall  not  dull  our  fervor,  its  vulgar  tasks  coarsen 
our  spirit,  nor  its  impurities  tempt  or  stain.  "  In  the 
wilderness  shall  waters  break  out,  and  streams  in  the 
desert.  And  the  mirage  shall  become  a  pool,  and  the 
thirsty  ground  springs  of  water  "  (Isa.  35:  6,  7). 


XI 

THE  CHIEF  JOY 

Rejoice  in  the  Lord  alway:  again  I  will  say,  Rejoice. — Phi- 
UPPiANS  4 : 4. 

TO  attain  and  preserve  a  deep  satisfaction  in 
life  we  must  first  believe  in  the  goodness  of 
God,  and  that  it  is  His  good  pleasure  that  we 
share  His  blessedness.  Various  kinds  and  degrees  of 
happiness  are  possible  without  religious  faith,  but  to 
realize  true  and  abiding  serenity  we  must  apprehend 
the  goodness  of  the  Lord  underlying  all  life,  ordering 
it,  satisfying  it.  Ample  warrant  is  forthcoming  to 
justify  such  a  faith.  Nature  often  perplexes  us,  yet 
we  cannot  resist  the  fact  that  her  fundamental  thought 
is  beneficent.  As  the  apostles  reminded  the  people  of 
Lystra,  "  And  yet  He  left  not  Himself  without  wit- 
ness, in  that  He  did  good,  and  gave  you  from  heaven 
rains  and  fruitful  seasons,  filling  your  hearts  with  food 
and  gladness  "  (Acts  14:  lY).  Human  nature  testifies 
to  the  same  fact.  Pessimism  has  never  been  the  popu- 
lar creed;  Oriental  nations  are  supposed  to  hold  it, 
yet  we  soon  discover  that  the  doctrine  of  the  sadness 
and  hopelessness  of  life  is  a  theory  of  philosophers 
and  poets,  rather  than  the  practical  belief  of  the  mul- 
titude. It  is  surprising  that  it  should  be  so,  consider- 
ing the  afflictions  of  the  race  and  the  general  disposi- 
tion to  magnify  our  miseries ;  but  our  cheerfulness  is 

151 


162  THE  CHIEF  JOY 

constitutional  and  irrepressible.  The  instinctive  opti- 
mism of  the  many  prevails  against  the  reasoned  pessi- 
mism of  the  few. 

The  innate  trend  to  joyousness  is  sometimes  re- 
vealed in  pathetic  ways.  A  traveller  on  the  Amazon 
writes:  "At  the  time  of  our  visit,  this  town  has 
twenty-eight  native  inhabitants,  of  whom  four  suffer 
from  chronic  rheumatism,  eight  from  old  age  and 
arterio-sclerosis,  one  from  hernia,  one  from  erysipe- 
las, and  seven  from  chronic  malaria.  Bread,  matches, 
and  sugar  are  not  obtainable  at  any  price,  yet  four  peo- 
ple make  a  living  making  fireworks!  The  fireworks 
are  used  for  their  festivals."  ^  But  we  need  not  go  so 
far  afield  for  instances  of  this  inextinguishable  cheer- 
fulness; we  constantly  see  in  our  own  midst  a  native 
joyousness  asserting  itself  in  the  most  miserable  cir- 
cumstances. Human  nature  will  not  be  denied  its 
birthright  of  gladness;  its  faith  and  hope  survive  all 
tragedies ;  despite  outrageous  fortune,  its  incurable  be- 
lief remains  that  it  has  a  right  to  be  happy ;  we  illumine 
the  abyss  of  our  wretchedness  with  festal  lights,  and 
garnish  the  memorials  of  our  sorrows  with  flowers; 
and  we  may  rely  upon  it  that  the  persistent  instinct 
testifies  to  the  gracious  character  and  design  of  Him 
who  implanted  it. 

Revelation  agrees  with  the  constitution  of  things, 
assuring  us  of  our  heirship  to  a  joyous  inheritance. 
Schopenhauer  flouts  the  Old  Testament  on  account  of 
its  optimism ;  but  "  the  joy  of  the  Lord  "  was  the 
secret  of  Israel's  solidarity  and  persistence,  and  the 
sad  philosopher  perceived  how  this  fact  told  against 
his  philosophy.  Lawgiver,  psalmist,  and  prophet  alike 
give  utterance  to  a  radiant  hope  in  God  and  in  His 
*Lange,  The  Lozver  Amazon, 


THE  CHIEF  JOY  153 

good-will  to  all  His  creatures;  the  New  Testament  is 
still  more  emphatic,  assuring  the  struggling  race  of 
its  call  to  conquest,  glory,  and  peace.  The  rainbow  is 
round  about  the  Bible,  as  it  is  round  about  the  Throne ; 
its  sweet  colors  tinge  every  sacred  page,  even  the  sad- 
dest and  sternest.  To  "  rejoice  in  the  Lord  "  is  not 
only  the  privilege  of  the  righteous ;  it  is  their  duty  also. 
Yet  whilst  the  good  pleasure  of  God  is  clearly  mani- 
fest, how  many  of  His  children  remain  in  heaviness! 
They  fail  to  realize  His  goodness,  are  not  alive  to  the 
beauty  and  preciousness  of  the  heavenly  gifts,  do  not 
open  their  heart  to  the  comforts  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and 
the  strong  consolation  of  their  glorious  hope;  or,  if 
they  do  enter  into  their  privilege,  it  is  only  faintly  and 
intermittent;  and  the  natural  result  of  such  hesitancy 
is  that  they  lack  the  holy  cheerfulness  that  is  the 
strength  of  life.  Sir  James  Stephen  writes  to  a  friend: 
"  Saints  who  have  mortified  themselves  to  the  quick 
are  to  be  met  with  in  every  collection  of  ecclesiastical 
worthies.  But  how  few  who  have  enjoyed  themselves 
to  the  utmost!  How  few  elevated  enough  to  believe 
that  such  joy  would  be  acceptable  to  God ! "  *  Pity, 
indeed,  that  the  criticism  is  so  true!  Many  are  shy 
af  the  gladsome,  suspect  the  gay  thought,  persuade 
themselves  that  they  are  safest  when  saddest;  even 
when  a  radiant  hour  is  thrust  upon  them,  they  contrive 
to  make  it  "  counterfeit  a  gloom  " ;  and  in  Christian 
biographies  it  is  noteworthy  that  when  the  subject 
was  distinguished  by  a  streak  of  wit  and  humor  the 
biographer  feels  it  necessary  to  interpose  a  delicate 
apology  for  the  human  frailty  and  blemish.  We  are 
not  sufficiently  "  elevated  "  to  believe  that  such  mirth- 
fulness  can  be  acceptable  to  God. 

^Life  and  Letters,  p.  io8. 


164  THE  CHIEF  JOY 

How  is  this  unfortunate  fact  to  be  explained,  and 
how  shall  we  best  avoid  this  fault?  It  is  of  immense 
importance  that  our  religion  should  make  us  person- 
ally happy,  and  that  the  Church  of  God  should  reflect 
and  diffuse  the  eternal  sunshine.  The  sadness  of  a 
saint  breeds  doubts  as  to  the  rationality  of  his  faith. 
A  merry  laugh  is  said  to  be  rare  with  the  Mohammed- 
ans, and  that  is  not  the  least  argument  against  the 
merit  of  their  creed;  yet  the  Christian  faith  may  often 
be  doubted  on  the  same  score.  Every  article  of  our 
creed  proposes  our  happiness,  and  we  do  ourselves  and 
our  religion  injustice  by  permitting  and  cherishing 
anything  like  a  prevailing  gloom  and  apprehensiveness. 
Let  us,  then,  glance  at  some  of  the  causes  of  this 
anomaly,  and  see  wherein  lies  the  remedy. 

1.  The  recollection  of  fault  and  failure  is  not  un- 
usually the  occasion  of  our  unhappiness.  We  are  ac- 
customed to  speak  of  the  "  dead  past  " ;  but  the  past  is 
often  far  from  being  dead ;  much  to  our  grief  it  seems 
ever  ready  with  a  skeleton  for  the  feast,  a  spectre  for 
our  pillow.  We  boast  of  rising  "  on  stepping-stones 
of  our  dead  selves  to  higher  things  " ;  yet  quite  as  often 
there  is  a  reverse  movement,  and  on  those  stepping- 
stones  we  descend  to  gloomy  crypts  of  bitter  regret, 
cruel  self-reproach,  remorse,  and  something  like  de- 
spair. And  with  our  remembrance  of  "  old  sins  **  is 
the  acute  consciousness  of  fresh  error  and  condemna- 
tion. The  classic  example  for  this  situation,  and  of  the 
conduct  appropriate  to  it,  are  set  forth  in  the  Book  of 
Nehemiah  (8:  9-13).  The  reading  of  the  law  awoke 
the  conscience  of  the  people,  and,  alive  to  their  in- 
fidelity and  sin,  they  were  overwhelmed  with  sorrow. 
But  their  enlightened  leader  did  not  permit  distress  to 
degenerate  into  the  sorrow  that  worketh  death.     He 


THE  CHIEF  JOY  165 

caused  them  to  remember  the  Lord  their  God,  long- 
suffering,  abundant  in  goodness,  delighting  in  mercy. 
Trusting  in  the  divine  graciousness,  they  took  heart 
again;  their  sorrow  was  turned  into  joy,  and  with 
both  hands  they  rebuilt  the  city.  Despair  builds  noth- 
ing, but  the  joy  of  forgiveness  and  hope  inspired  the 
heroic  spirit  that  was  needed  to  meet  the  exacting  sit- 
uation. The  sorrow  that  loses  sight  of  the  divine  com- 
passion paralyzes  and  poisons  all  life. 

How  slow  of  heart  we  are  to  believe,  really  to  be- 
lieve, in  the  divine  mercy!  Is  there  a  more  striking 
proof  of  our  moral  imperfection  than  this  hesitancy 
to  believe  in  the  freeness  and  richness  of  the  divine 
grace,  although  its  Author  has  taken  infinite  pains  to 
convince  us  of  it?  Some  of  the  backward  races  are 
found  utterly  incapable  of  appreciating  disinterested 
kindness;  they  construe  it  as  disguised  diplomacy,  as 
a  mark  of  mental  weakness,  or  as  an  expression  of 
fear.  Knowing  nothing  themselves  of  magnanimous 
sentiment,  they  cannot  understand  it  in  others  or  be- 
lieve in  it,  they  lack  the  sense  that  makes  it  intelligible. 
Does  not  this  fact  cast  light  on  our  mistrust  in  the 
clemency  of  God  ?  We  seem  incapable  of  entertaining 
the  thought  of  His  vast  love,  and  it  seems  next  to  im- 
possible for  Him  to  overcome  our  incredulity.  The 
true  explanation  is  that  our  nature  has  so  suffered 
from  the  blight  of  sin  and  selfishness  that  it  is  difficult 
to  believe  in  love,  and  the  love  of  the  Cross  baffles  us 
altogether;  we  cannot  grasp  it,  cannot  lay  hold  upon 
it.  We  go  on  reciting  the  grand  article  of  our  creed, 
"I  believe  in  the  forgiveness  of  sins/'  and  immedi- 
ately proceed  to  lacerate  ourselves  by  the  memory  of 
our  sins,  as  though  such  forgiveness  were  only  a  fugi- 
tive fancy.     Instead  of  accepting  the  pardoning  love 


156  THE  CHIEF  JOY 

as  too  grand  to  be  false,  we  act  as  if  it  were  too  grand 
to  be  true.  If  we  believe  in  anything,  we  may  surely 
believe  that  the  grace  which  cures  us  of  our  sin  for- 
gives it. 

As  the  Spirit  of  God  continues  to  work  within  the 
spirit  of  the  race,  and  love  more  and  more  prevails 
in  the  human  heart,  will  not  men  rise  to  a  nobler  con- 
ception of  God,  and  trust  more  readily  and  firmly  in 
His  all-sufficient  grace  ?  Growing  more  familiar  with 
affection  in  all  social  relations,  proving  by  daily  experi- 
ence its  riches  of  forbearance,  forgiveness,  and  sacri- 
fice, will  they  not  get  clearer  insight  and  firmer  confi- 
dence in  the  Eternal  Love?  Will  not  this  be  a  chief 
glory  of  the  latter  days?  In  the  past,  largely  arising 
out  of  the  infirmity  of  undisciplined  humanity,  the 
"  God  of  all  grace "  has  been  misunderstood,  mis- 
trusted, counted  a  "hard  man,"  the  very  tokens  of 
His  compassion  harshly  construed,  as  some  heathen 
people  look  upon  the  rainbow  as  a  sign  of  wrath ;  but 
in  the  better  days  to  come  this  distorted  vision  will 
cease,  and  the  patience,  clemency,  and  hopefulness  of 
God  be  recognized  as  never  before.  What  a  delightful 
world  when  no  cloud  any  longer  obscures  the  love  of 
God! 

2.  Temperament  is  a  factor  in  our  moods,  and  one 
of  no  slight  importance.  And  let  us  write  down  this 
as  a  guiding  maxim,  that  the  sunny  temperament  is 
the  ideal  one.  "  I  never  knew  any  one  with  such  a 
gift  for  happiness  as  my  mother  has,"  writes  Leslie 
Stephen.  Choice  gift  indeed!  Whoever  possesses  it 
in  any  high  degree  needs  few  other  gifts.  Quick  to 
discern  the  preclousness  and  blessedness  of  all  desir- 
able things,  equally  alive  to  the  compensatory  aspects 
of  painful  experiences,  and  hopeful  always  for  the  best 


THE  CHIEF  JOY  157 

even  when  the  outlook  is  far  from  clear,  they  who 
possess  and  wisely  exercise  this  gift  live  lives  full  of 
wonder,  gratitude,  and  praise.  But  all  born  of  women 
have  not  this  grace.  Victor  Cherbuliez  thus  describes 
one  of  his  characters:  "He  lacked  that  lightness  of 
humor  which,  of  all  things  in  the  world,  is  the  least 
easy  to  acquire.  His  gravity  was  inborn;  he  took 
everything  seriously,  his  wine  never  sparkled."  These 
sombre  souls  detect  drawbacks  in  the  best  gifts  of  life. 
The  sight  of  the  thorn  makes  faint  the  fragrance  of 
the  rose,  the  shining  hour  is  deprecated  as  it  may  bring 
the  wasp,  and  their  heart  has  ceased  to  leap  up  at  the 
spectacle  of  the  rainbow  since  they  learned  of  its 
seamy  side;  the  real  sorrows  of  life  are  exaggerated 
by  brooding,  and  many  imaginary  ones  are  added, 
whilst  the  trend  of  events  always  receives  the  worst 
interpretation.  To  the  pessimistic  and  pensive  all  life 
takes  a  sober  color,  leaves  a  more  or  less  bitter  taste. 
It  is  of  little  use  to  inquire  into  the  origin  of  tempera- 
ment; that  remains  unknown  except  to  Him  who 
"  imparts  the  secret  bias  of  the  soul  ** ;  but  the  bias  is 
there.  Constitutionally  we  give  life  a  brighter  or 
darker  interpretation,  and  in  certain  respects  the  re- 
sults of  temperament  are  inevitable. 

We  must  not,  however,  forget  that  native  disposi- 
tion is  subject  to  control  and  discipline;  we  may,  per- 
haps, say  that  temperamental  qualities  are  as  amenable 
to  culture  as  our  mental  faculties  are.  Vinet  observes 
that  "  the  art  of  being  happy  was  with  Fontenelle  a 
talent."  All  the  godly  should  cultivate  this  art,  and 
none  more  so  than  the  grave  spirits  whose  natural  gift 
for  happiness  is  not  brilliant.  Unfortunately  the  con- 
trary is  commonly  the  case.  Those  who  are  prone  to 
self -analysis,  doubtful  of  things,  easily  dejected,  too 


158  THE  CHIEF  JOY 

often  follow  a  course  that  confirms  and  intensifies  the 
saturnine  temper.  They  encourage  the  mood,  feed  it, 
fondle  and  pamper  it,  find  ingenious  reasons  for  excus- 
ing it,  until  in  the  end  they  come  to  believe  that  piety 
is  "  divinest  melancholy  " ;  it  becomes  a  habit  and  a 
necessity;  they  do  all  the  journey  with  the  downcast 
look.  Let  us  not  forget  for  an  hour  that  the  contented 
temper,  the  heroic  cheerfulness,  the  hopeful  outlook, 
constitute  the  Christian  ideal ;  and  for  its  realization  let 
us  strive  and  pray.  We  acknowledge  the  seriousness 
of  life,  but  seriousness  is  not  sadness.  Times  of  ex- 
haustion and  depression  are  well-nigh  inevitable  to  all, 
as  at  certain  seasons  the  musical  birds  seem  to  lose 
their  brightest  faculties  and  lapse  into  sickness  and  si- 
lence; but  as  such  loss  is  only  temporary  with  them, 
the  sweet  minstrels  soon  regaining  their  song,  so  let 
us  by  the  power  of  the  Spirit  resist  the  gathering 
gloom  and  press  into  the  sunshine.  "  Behold,  it  was 
for  my  peace  that  I  had  great  bitterness"  (Isa. 
38:  lY). 

3.  A  morbid  sensitiveness  seriously  impairs  the 
Christian  peace.  That  we  should  be  on  our  guard 
against  the  encroachments  of  evil  is  well  understood, 
but  hyper-sensitiveness  is  an  evil  in  itself  to  be  feared. 
Chapman,  in  his  Unexplored  Spain,  indulges  in  a  re- 
flection that  is  not  without  its  moral  for  the  saints: 
"  One  marvels  at  the  extreme  caution  displayed  by 
wild  animals.  Here  is  a  young  stag  coming  straight 
along,  down  wind,  and  in  a  desolate  spot  which  to  hu- 
man sense  could  betray  absolutely  no  feature  or  taint 
of  danger.  Suddenly  he  becomes  rigid,  arrested  in 
mid-career — sniffing  at  a  pure,  untainted  air,  yet  con- 
scious somehow  of  something  wrong  somewhere!  It 
is  a  miraculous  gift,  though  one  cannot  but  feel  grate- 


THE  CHIEF  JOY  159 

ful  that  we  humans  are  devoid  of  senses  that  ever  keep 
nerves  in  highest  tension." 

But  some  of  our  fellows  cannot  be  congratulated  on 
this  exemption.  So  far  as  the  natural  life  is  con- 
cerned, we  never  lack  alarmists  who  are  ever  busy 
pointing  out  danger  where  it  was  never  seen  before. 
Articles  of  food,  apparently  the  most  innocent,  are 
suspected:  the  tomato  favors  cancer,  the  potato  is  the 
cause  of  physical  and  moral  degradation,  and  there 
was  good  reason  why  the  apple  was  forbidden  the 
primitive  pair.  "  To  die  of  a  rose  in  aromatic  pain  " 
has  long  been  accounted  delicate  satire,  but  now  we 
are  gravely  assured  that  the  narcissus  is  the  means  of 
spreading  influenza.  Flowers  should  be  kept  out  of 
houses  and  churches,  and  children  not  allowed  to 
handle  them.  These  things,  and  a  thousand  others,  are 
tabooed  in  the  interest  of  health  and  safety.  People 
of  a  certain  temperament  accept  all  this;  they  move 
with  tormenting  caution,  fearing  where  no  fear  is. 
As  a  brilliant  Frenchman  puts  it,  "  When  we  look  for 
poison  we  find  it  everywhere."  Yet  this  is  precisely 
what  many  of  us  are  intent  on  doing  in  the  spiritual 
life,  keeping  our  nerves  in  highest  tenson.  Obsessed 
by  a  sense  of  life's  danger,  we  live  in  painful  apprehen- 
sion, scenting  peril  in  everything,  specially  in  what  is 
naturally  desirable.  For  example,  a  hymn  declares 
that  we  "  trembling  taste  our  food  " ;  and  we  may  in- 
fer that  whatever  else  concerns  us  is  to  be  treated  with 
similar  jealousy.  Such  a  mood  of  solicitude  renders  a 
serene  and  smiling  life  impossible. 

Let  us  regard  this  moral  supersensitiveness  as  par- 
taking of  the  nature  of  disease.  It  occupies  rather  a 
considerable  place  in  the  biography  of  some  saints — 
too  considerable  a  place,  for  it  has  really  no  scriptural 


160  THE  CHIEF  JOY 

sanction  whatever.  When  Isaiah  writes  of  those  who 
"  tremble  at  the  word  of  the  Lord,"  he  was  not  think- 
ing of  terror-stricken  slaves,  but  of  susceptible  and 
responsive  souls.  When  St.  Paul  exhorts  the  Philip- 
pians,  "  Work  out  your  own  salvation  with  fear  and 
trembling  "  (3:  12,  13),  the  context  makes  it  plain  that 
they  were  not  to  do  this  in  painful  suspense,  but  with 
confidence  and  exultation,  "  for  it  is  God  which  work- 
eth  in  you  both  to  will  and  to  work,  for  His  good 
pleasure."  It  is  not  less  than  a  superstition  that  we 
should  live  in  chilling  fear  of  delectable  things.  The 
primitive  Christians  who  "  day  by  day  .  .  .  did 
take  their  food  with  gladness  and  singleness  of  heart, 
praising  God,  and  having  favor  with  all  the  people  " 
(Acts  2:  46,  47),  should  be  our  example  whether  we 
eat  or  drink,  or  whatever  we  do.  Even  the  pagan  may 
set  us  an  example,  for,  as  travellers  tell  us,  "  the  Japa- 
nese seem  to  make  every  meal  a  picnic."  The  mood 
of  happiness  is  protective;  there  is  a  saving  salt  in 
every  pure  joy ;  placing  our  whole  trust  in  God's  love 
and  guardianship,  we  are  immune  whatever  may  be 
the  dangerousness  of  life.  "  For  God  gave  us  not  a 
spirit  of  fearfulness ;  but  of  power  and  love  and  disci- 
pline "  (2  Tim.  1:7). 

4.  The  joyousness  of  life  is  liable  to  suffer  through 
untozvard  circumstance.  Events  fall  out  so  unpro- 
pitiously that  privation  and  pain  seem  to  render  the 
radiant  mood  impossible.  A  winter  of  misfortune 
overtakes  us,  freezing  the  genial  current  of  the  soul; 
the  singing  birds  lie  silent  in  the  snow;  the  chance 
gleams  of  sunshine  only  lengthen  the  icicles.  When 
these  trying  days  dawn,  the  children  of  God  should 
remember  that  their  peace  and  joy  are  not  dependent 
on  material  affluence.    In  an  early  letter  to  a  friend. 


THE  CHIEF  JOY  161 

Victor  Hugo  writes:  "  I  am  eagerly  awaiting  the  time 
which  will  settle  my  future,  and  enable  me  to  live  and 
be  happy.  So  many  material  circumstances  are  often 
necessary  for  the  realization  of  the  purest  and  most 
ideal  of  dreams/'  This  is  hardly  the  view  of  revela- 
tion. There  we  learn  that  a  man's  life  does  not  consist 
in  the  abundance  of  the  things  that  he  possesses, 
neither  are  they  necessary  to  reach  the  purest  and  most 
exalted  ideals.  The  old  prophet  understood  this,  and 
expresses  it  exactly.  "  For  though  the  fig-tree  shall 
not  blossom,  neither  shall  fruit  be  in  the  vines;  the 
labor  of  the  olive  shall  fail,  and  the  fields  shall  yield 
no  meat ;  the  flock  shall  be  cut  off  from  the  fold,  and 
there  shall  be  no  herd  in  the  stalls:  yet  I  will  rejoice  in 
the  Lord,  I  will  joy  in  the  God  of  my  salvation  " 
(Hab.  3:  17,  18). 

As  the  peace  of  the  soul  is  not  dependent  upon 
material  resources,  it  is  not  banished  by  their  curtail- 
ment or  withdrawal.  Much  of  the  New  Testament  is 
devoted  to  the  illustration  of  this  truth.  Indeed,  the 
whole  life  of  our  Lord  was  an  illustration  of  His 
teaching,  that  the  highest  life  and  the  sublimest  joy 
may  be  realized  apart  from  happy  circumstance.  And 
every  thoughtful  reader  of  the  gospel  will  be  struck  by 
the  fact  that  as  the  Master's  career  passed  into  deeper 
darkness  His  joy  seemed  to  increase.  He  never  talked 
so  freely  of  peace  and  joy  as  He  did  in  the  last  sad 
days.  "  Peace  I  leave  with  you ;  My  peace  I  give  unto 
you"  (John  14:  27).  "These  things  have  I  spoken 
unto  you,  that  My  joy  may  be  in  you,  and  that  your 
joy  may  be  fulfilled"  (15:  11).  "And  ye  therefore 
now  have  sorrow:  but  I  will  see  you  again,  and  your 
heart  shall  rejoice,  and  your  joy  no  one  taketh  away 
from  you  "(16:22).    "  But  now  I  come  to  Thee ;  and 


162  THE  CHIEF  JOY 

these  things  I  speak  in  the  world,  that  they  may  have 
My  joy  fulfilled  in  themselves"  (17:  13).  Would  it 
not  be  our  wisdom  in  sad  days,  instead  of  making  our 
brain  ache  in  attempting  to  solve  the  problems  that  first 
make  our  heart  ache,  to  get  closer  to  the  Master  and 
know  His  more  intimate  fellowship?  He  would  reveal 
to  us  the  secret  of  finding  true  peace  at  the  centre  of 
the  whirlwind,  heavenly  joy  at  the  heart  of  the  flame. 
"  And  they  said  one  to  another,  Was  not  our  heart 
burning  within  us,  while  He  spake  to  us  in  the  way  ?  " 
(Luke  24:  32). 

It  is  necessary  to  keep  in  mind  the  fact  that  Chris- 
tian joy,  the  true,  essential  joy,  is  not  to  be  confounded 
with  the  happiness  of  which  the  natural  man  speaks, 
and  which  is  so  largely  based  on  material  advantage. 
It  is  of  another  quality,  possesses  a  more  sovereign 
virtue,  springs  from  a  higher  source.  It  is  not  con- 
tingent on  natural  conditions;  they  are  determined  by 
it.  It  sanctifies  and  enhances  all  sensuous  pleasures, 
whilst  existing  apart  from  them  and  often  blooming 
triumphantly  in  their  absence.  St.  Paul  wrote  from 
a  prison,  with  the  chain  on  his  wrist,  his  daring,  mag- 
nificent challenge,  "  Rejoice  in  the  Lord  alway:  again 
I  will  say.  Rejoice"  (Phil.  4:  4).  He  could  not  re- 
joice in  himself,  not  in  liberty,  wealth,  or  fame,  but  he 
could  now  and  always  rejoice  in  the  fellowship  of  his 
Master.  There  is  no  really  true  joy  except  it  is  in 
some  measure  a  spiritual  satisfaction;  and  the  full, 
habitual,  perennial  satisfaction  of  the  soul  is  found  in 
the  knowledge,  love,  and  service  of  the  Lord.  After 
that,  the  more  or  less  of  sensuous  pleasure  is  not  of 
vital  consequence. 

Sir  Martin  Conway  wrote  from  Polar  regions: 
"  Now  that  the  short  northern  summer  has  set  in, 


THE  CHIEF  JOY  163 

flowers  were  opening  on  all  sides.  A  veritable  Arctic 
garden  surrounded  the  tents,  for  the  ground  was  gay 
with  blossom.  ...  It  was  strange  to  meet  again 
in  this  remote  region  so  many  plants  that  I  had  found 
by  the  glaciers  and  amongst  the  crags  of  the  Kara- 
koram  Himalaya.  .  .  .  Here  they  all  were  again, 
as  bright,  and  maintaining  themselves  as  happily  in  the 
heart  of  the  Arctic  regions  as  on  the  backbone  of 
Asia."  As  the  explorer  found  the  identical  strong 
bright  flowers  in  widely  sundered  regions,  so  St.  Paul 
found  equal  satisfactions  and  possibilities  in  the  most 
strongly  contrasted  latitudes  of  circumstance.  "  I 
know  how  to  be  abased,  and  I  know  also  how  to 
abound ;  in  everything  and  in  all  things  have  I  learned 
the  secret  both  to  be  filled  and  to  be  hungry,  both  to 
abound  and  to  be  in  want"  (Phil.  4:  12).  He  had 
compassed  the  many  varieties  and  extremes  of  situa- 
tion, but  the  grace  that  was  in  him  equalized  them  all, 
and  turned  to  advantage  the  most  unpromising.  In 
inhospitable  realms  of  ostracism,  hardship,  and  cap- 
tivity he  found  once  more  purity's  whitest  lily,  humil- 
ity's sweetest  violet,  joy's  greenest  palm,  love's  reddest 
rose,  with  every  precious  fruit  of  light;  here  they  all 
were  again  in  the  heavenly  sunshine,  "  as  bright  and 
maintaining  themselves  as  happily  "  in  slums  and  jails 
as  in  the  days  when  his  pathway  led  him  through  green 
pastures  and  by  waters  of  rest,  and  where  the  plants 
of  grace  throve  all  was  well. 


XII 

THE  TABLE-LANDS  OF  THE  PERFECTED 
LIFE 

Blessed  he  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who 
hath  blessed  us  with  every  spiritual  blessing  in  the  heavenly 
places  in  Christ:  even  as  He  chose  us  in  Him  before  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world,  that  we  should  he  holy  and  without  blemish  be- 
fore Him  in  love. — Ephksians  i  :  3,  4. 

THE  beginning  of  the  Christian  life  is  an  up- 
lift, and  the  road  to  perfection  leads  uphill 
all  the  way.  Yet  there  are  possible  halting- 
places  where  the  soul  may  make  its  abode,  shrinking 
from  the  toil  of  climbing  yet  higher.  It  is  on  these 
loftier  plateaux  that  the  apostle's  thought  ranges  in 
this  Epistle,  and  to  them  he  directs  our  gaze.  Five 
times  he  writes  of  life  in  Christ  as  dwelling  in  "  the 
heavenlies,"  by  which  term  he  means  a  life  of  tran- 
scending perfection  and  blessedness.  Let  us,  then,  in- 
quire, first,  what  is  this  highest  life;  and,  then,  ask 
what  it  implies  and  promises. 

1.  What  the  Highest  Life  Is. — In  a  word  it 
signifies  a  sincere  attempt  to  reduce  the  Christian  creed 
to  experience  and  practice;  to  strive  to  be  and  to  do 
whatever  our  faith  demands,  falling  short  in  nothing 
of  its  requirements.  It  means  that  we  love  God  with 
"  all  our  mind,  and  soul,  and  strength.'*  Whosoever 
aspires  to  the  ideal  life  must  be  able  to  say  with  St. 
Paul,  "  I  have  been  crucified  with  Christ ;  yet  I  live ; 
and  yet  no  longer  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me  "  (Gal. 
2:  20).  The  law  of  Christ  determines  the  whole  pro- 
gramme of  life,  and  the  love  of  Christ  becomes  the 
effectual  motive  to  universal  obedience ;  they  who  will 
be  perfect  must  be  one  with  Him  as  the  branch  is  one 

164 


THE  PERFECTED  LIFE  165 

with  the  vine,  not  as  the  mistletoe  which  finds  shallow 
rootage  in  a  crevice,  or  as  the  ivy  or  orchid  that  takes 
precarious  hold  by  a  tendril.  To  live  the  higher  life  is 
to  possess  the  mind  of  Christ,  to  reflect  His  image,  to 
walk  in  His  steps.  Or,  to  put  it  from  another  point 
of  view,  which  is  not  another:  only  as  the  Holy  Spirit 
dwells  richly  in  our  hearts,  illuminating,  energizing, 
hallowing,  can  we  reach  the  shining  heights,  where  it  is 
good  to  dwell  with  the  Master,  to  see  His  glory,  and 
to  be  changed  into  the  same  image.  "  The  Spirit  of 
truth  .  .  .  He  shall  glorify  Me;  for  He  shall  take 
of  Mine,  and  shall  declare  it  unto  you  "  (John  16:  13, 
14).  The  prize  of  life  is  the  perfection  of  our  being, 
which  implies  that  we  realize  the  immense  resources 
of  the  soul,  accomplish  our  high  calling  in  all  its  duties 
and  privileges,  enjoy  the  sense  of  liberty  and  delight 
arising  from  purified  and  harmonized  faculties,  and 
that  we  are  capable  of,  and  ripe  for,  the  great  inherit- 
ance awaiting  the  faithful.  The  highest  life  is  to  carry 
out  this  sacred  and  sublime  trust  with  a  pure  and  con- 
stant enthusiasm,  making  the  thought  of  godliness  the 
ruling  idea  of  the  mind,  the  master-passion  of  the 
heart,  the  supreme  law  of  conduct  and  action. 

It  will  be  readily  seen  that  all  this  means  something 
beyond,  often  far  indeed  beyond,  the  level  on  which 
many  are  content  to  live.  No  merely  conventional  life, 
no  merely  professional  life,  is  suggested;  but  the 
Christian  life  in  earnest,  in  entire  self-surrender,  in 
perfect  freedom,  in  habitual  felicity.  Parry  tells  that 
when  the  sun  at  last  arises  upon  the  polar  world  the 
consequence  is  not  exactly  so  pleasing  as  might  have 
been  expected ;  it  is  long  after  its  reappearance  in  those 
regions  before  there  is  much  power  in  its  beams.  The 
thermometer  rises  slowly;  much  wearisomeness  and 


166  THE  TABLE-LANDS  OF 

impatience  are  experienced;  only  later  does  the  sum- 
mer break  forth  with  its  warmth  and  flowers.  The 
first  stages  of  the  Christian  life  have  their  special 
constraints,  conflicts,  reactions,  and  disappointments; 
and  it  largely  depends  upon  ourselves  how  long  the 
perfect  noon  and  summer  of  the  soul  are  delayed. 
Some  seem  never  to  get  beyond  those  initial  stages, 
and  to  remain  to  the  end  knowing  little  of  the  spon- 
taneity, beauty,  and  felicity  of  a  fully  consecrated  life. 
Spurgeon  is  reported  to  have  said,  "  There  is  a  point 
in  grace  as  much  above  the  ordinary  Christian  as  the 
ordinary  Christian  is  above  the  worldling."  This  can 
hardly  be  the  case.  The  ordinary  Christian,  if  a  true 
one,  is  at  an  immeasurable  distance  beyond  the  un- 
converted, whilst  no  such  distance  can  separate  the 
saints.  Yet  the  distance  may  be  immense.  That 
saintly  man,  Forbes  Robinson,  who  had  retired  to  St. 
Moritz  for  the  sake  of  his  health,  writes  to  a  friend: 
"  I  feel  a  new  man  now  in  the  fresh  mountain  air. 
If  I  always  lived  here  I  might  be  good  for  something. 
What  a  parable  of  life !  If  we  could  live  in  the  higher 
world  and  breathe  in  its  air,  what  strong,  healthy  men 
we  should  be!  I  stayed  a  night  once  with  Westcott, 
and  it  seemed  to  me  that  he  lived  and  moved  and  had 
his  being  in  a  higher  region,  to  which  I  now  and  then 
came  as  a  stranger,  and  he  could  see  habitually,  what 
I  sometimes  saw,  the  way  of  God  in  human  life.  I 
am  sure  we  are  meant  to  have  our  home  in  that  higher 
world,  and  that  we  only  see  life  sanely,  steadily,  and  in 
its  true  proportions  when  we  view  it  from  that  van- 
tage-ground." Humboldt  relates  that  when  standing 
upon  an  elevation  of  14,471  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
sea,  the  condor  soared  at  such  a  height  above  his  head 
that  it  appeared  only  as  a  black  speck.    The  writer  of 


THE  PERFECTED  LIFE  167 

the  above  letter  lived  on  a  high  table-land,  and  yet 
saw  Westcott  on  eagles'  wings  far  above  him. 

11.  What  This  Elevation  of  Soul  Implies 
AND  Promises. 

1.  Enlargement  of  vision.  Living  on  lower  grades 
of  spiritual  life,  we  find  it  difficult  to  grasp  the  great 
articles  of  our  creed,  and  were  it  not  for  the  rare  mo- 
ments which  come  in  the  poorest  lives  we  might  lose 
our  hold  of  them  altogether.  Public  attention  has 
more  than  once  been  directed  to  dangers  threatening 
Greenwich  Observatory.  This  institution  stands  on  a 
hill  150  feet  high,  but  chimneys  250  feet  high  rise 
from  the  river-bed  above  the  dome's  of  the  Observa- 
tory, and  interfere  with  the  observation  of  certain 
stars ;  whilst  the  disturbance  occasioned  by  the  hot  air 
and  smoke  discharged  by  these  stacks  causes  serious 
trouble  to  the  astronomer.  Is  not  this  a  metaphor  of 
the  danger  to  our  faith  and  peace  by  remaining  on  the 
more  depressed  levels  of  life?  Living  so  nearly  to  the 
worldly,  how  many  things  intrude  upon  us  and  obscure 
the  great  truths  by  which  we  live !  Soon  they  are  only 
dimly  seen ;  and  when  no  longer  vividly  realized,  how 
easy  it  is  to  deny  them!  Very  different  is  the  case 
when  we  live  near  to  God.  The  Lick  Observatory,  on 
Mount  Hamilton,  California,  standing  on  ground 
4,000  feet  high,  is  remote  from  all  chimneys;  it  is 
nearer  to  the  stars  and  beholds  them  with  open  vision. 
So  to  those  who  live  on  the  higher  ranges  of  thought, 
and  feeling,  and  purpose,  the  great  truths  of  revelation 
shine  out  with  strong,  commanding  evidence.  It  is 
easy  to  see  them,  easy  to  believe  them ;  they  are  as  the 
stars  of  heaven  for  clearness.  We  believe  "  because 
we  must,  by  sight's  compulsion." 

In  the  first  chapter  of  this  Epistle  we  find  how 


168  THE  TABLE-LANDS  OF 

fervently  the  apostle  desired  for  his  brethren  a  clearer 
knowledge  of  the  mighty  truths  which  concerned  them. 
**  Making  mention  of  you  in  my  prayers,  that  the  God 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Father  of  glory,  may 
give  unto  you  a  spirit  of  wisdom  and  revelation  in  the 
knowledge  of  Him ;  having  the  eyes  of  your  heart  en- 
lightened, that  ye  may  know  what  is  the  hope  of  His 
calling,  what  the  riches  of  the  glory  of  His  inheritance 
in  the  saints,  and  what  the  exceeding  greatness  of  His 
power  to  US-ward  who  believe  "  (16-19).  In  the  third 
chapter  the  writer  shows  explicitly  and  emphatically 
how  this  knowledge  is  to  be  acquired.  It  is  through 
reaching  the  heights  of  sanctified  personality  and  ex- 
perience that  we  get  the  vision  and  faculty  divine.  "  I 
bow  my  knees  unto  the  Father  .  .  .  that  He 
would  grant  you,  according  to  the  riches  of  His  glory, 
that  ye  may  be  strengthened  with  power  through  His 
Spirit  in  the  inward  man;  that  Christ  may  dwell  in 
your  hearts  through  faith;  to  the  end  that  ye,  being 
rooted  and  grounded  in  love,  may  be  strong  to  appre- 
hend .  .  .  and  to  know  the  love  of  Christ  which 
passeth  knowledge"  (14-19).  In  the  whole  of  this 
Epistle  St.  Paul  has  ascended  to  the  Alpine  region, 
high  white  mountains  on  every  side  in  unearthly  glory; 
but  in  this  passage  he  stands  on  Mount  Blanc  itself, 
exulting  in  a  vast  horizon,  and  feasting  his  spiritual 
imagination  on  wonder  after  wonder  of  grace  and 
promise.  The  power  of  apprehension,  comprehension, 
appreciation,  discrimination,  comes  through  loftiness 
and  holiness  of  life;  no  way  else.  If  we  are  to  attain 
the  vision  splendid,  we  must  stand  where  the  apostle 
stood,  realizing  with  him  the  power  of  the  Spirit,  the 
indwelling  of  Christ,  the  life  of  love,  communion,  and 
sacrifice. 


THE  PERFECTED  LIFE  169 

As  the  higher  life  brings  clearer  vision  of  celestial 
truths,  so  it  enables  us  the  better  to  understand  the 
significance  of  our  earthly  life  and  discipline.  Mark 
the  passage  in  Forbes  Robinson's  letter  just  quoted, 
"  Westcott  could  see  habitually,  what  I  sometimes  saw, 
the  way  of  God  in  human  life.  I  am  sure  we  are 
meant  to  have  our  home  in  that  higher  world,  and  that 
we  only  see  life  sanely,  steadily,  and  in  its  true  propor- 
tions when  we  view  it  from  that  vantage-ground."  So 
far  from  habitual  contemplations  and  devotion  with- 
drawing attention  from  the  present  life  and  making  us 
discontented  with  it,  it  explains  life,  reconciles  us  to 
it,  supplies  a  key  to  the  chequered  story  not  otherwise 
acquired.  As  the  prophetic  gift  or  the  divination  of 
genius  discerns  the  secret  order  and  trend  of  things, 
so  there  is  a  spiritual  clairvoyance  by  which  the 
spiritual  detect  the  mind  and  working  of  God  in  hu- 
man history  and  in  their  own.  "  He  made  known  His 
ways  unto  Moses"  (Ps.  103:  7),  and  takes  into  His 
confidence  every  one  whose  heart  is  perfect  towards 
Him.  To  them  life  appears  no  longer  an  eddying 
stream  of  contingency,  accident,  and  futility,  a  baf- 
fling chaos  and  painful  puzzle;  but,  viewed  from  the 
vantage-ground  of  a  higher  world,  they  "  see  life 
sanely,  steadily,  and  in  its  true  proportions,"  as  the 
programme  of  a  wise  and  gracious  Ruler. 

That  Thou  art  nowhere  to  be  found,  agree 

Wise  men,  whose  eyes  are  but  for  surfaces ; 

Men  with  eyes  opened  by  the  second  birth, 

To  whom  the  seen,  husk  of  the  unseen  is. 

Descry  Thee  soul  of  everything  on  earth. 

Who  knows  Thy  ends.  Thy  means  and  motions  see; 

Eyes  made  for  glory  soon  discover  Thee. 

2.     A  rarer  degree  of  purity  is  another  implication 


170  THE  TABLE-LANDS  OF 

of  the  highest  life.  "  He  chose  us  in  Him  before  the 
foundation  of  the  world,  that  we  should  be  holy  and 
without  blemish  before  Him  in  love/'  Long  before 
that  recent  event,  the  palaeolithic  period,  in  the  coun- 
sels of  eternity,  God  determined  that  all  believers  in 
Christ  Jesus  should  become  "  partakers  of  the  divine 
nature,"  so  far  as  that  is  possible  to  a  creature,  reflect- 
ing the  divine  glory,  knowing  His  peace.  Every  be- 
liever in  Christ  from  the  hour  of  spiritual  birth  re- 
ceives this  power  and  privilege.  "  That  ye  be  renewed 
in  the  spirit  of  your  mind,  and  put  on  the  new  man, 
which  after  God  hath  been  created  in  righteousness  and 
holiness  of  truth"  (Eph.  4:23,  24).  Yet  we  may 
rest  long  in  incompleteness,  far  from  being  without 
blemish;  whereas  by  faith,  resolution,  and  diligence 
we  may  grow  in  grace,  and  attain  to  the  stature  of  men 
in  Christ  Jesus. 

A  naturalist  writes:  "The  Alpine  garden  does  not 
contain  any  noxious  growth.  The  higher  we  climb 
towards  the  sky,  the  sweeter  and  purer  are  the  flowers. 
Is  it  a  coincidence  that  the  lower  we  descend  towards 
the  plain,  the  more  frequent  become  the  noxious 
growths,  the  stinging,  blistering,  foul-smelling,  and 
thorny  plants;  and  the  higher  we  go  to  the  clouds, 
the  more  virtue  and  beauty  and  fragrance  we  discover  ? 
No  evil  shall  exist  above  the  snow-line;  there  purity 
reigns." '  The  Alpine  garden  is  the  figure  of  the 
realm  to  which  we  are  called,  the  picture  of  where  we 
ought  to  be,  of  what  we  ought  to  be.  On  the  lower 
slopes  of  life  are  noxious  things,  stinging,  blistering, 
defiling,  for,  alas,  such  things  intrude  even  on  the 
lower  slopes  of  Beulah ;  but  transcending  these,  the  air 
has  a  wooing  fragrance,  the  flowers  are  sweet,  and  still 
*Trcvena,  Adventures  Among  Wild  Flowers. 


THE  PERFECTED  LIFE  171 

higher  is  the  line  which  marks  the  abode  of  absolute 
purity.  "  The  heavenhes  "  which  beckon  us  are  states 
of  stainless  purity,  unblemished  beauty,  and  holiest 

joy. 

An  interior  perfection  is  the  first  aim  of  one  who 
would  live  the  higher  life.  The  training  of  the  con- 
science ^becomes  a  primal  duty.  The  conscience  of  a 
Christian  may  be  a  rude  organ  whose  judgments  are 
crude  and  unsafe,  but  climbing  higher  it  is  touched  to 
finer  issues.  It  is  wonderful  to  what  perfection  the 
eye  can  be  educated.  Herschel  thought  that  the  work- 
ers on  the  mosaics  of  the  Vatican  could  distinguish  at 
least  thirty  thousand  different  shades  of  color.  It  is 
equally  surprising  to  what  perfection  the  ear  may  be 
trained.  Weber  said  that  musicians  can  distinguish 
notes  separated  in  the  scale  of  sound  by  only  one- 
sixtieth  part  of  a  musical  tone.  To  what  perfection, 
then,  may  not  the  conscience  be  raised !  We  are  often 
struck  by  the  majestic  moral  judgments  of  our  Lord; 
their  exquisite  discrimination,  their  authority,  in- 
stantaneousness,  and  unanswerableness,  are  most  im- 
pressive. It  is  impossible  to  yield  ourselves  entirely  up 
to  God  and  to  live  to  His  glory  without  the  conscience 
acquiring  a  sensitiveness,  truthfulness,  and  sovereignty 
far  excelling  that  of  the  natural  man  or  low-grade 
Christian. 

Into  what  masterliness  may  not  the  will  be  disci- 
plined !  So  long  as  we  do  not  live  in  the  power  of  our 
religion,  whenever  a  critical  hour  comes  we  hesitate, 
and  too  often  fail.  Instead  of  our  determination  be- 
ing prompt  and  decisive,  we  fall  into  jeopardy  through 
the  faintness  of  the  soul.  At  a  period  when  Napoleon 
seemed  Irresistible  It  was  said  of  him,  "  He  does  not 
will,  he  is  willed."    As  if  a  resistless  force  called  des- 


in  THE  TABLE-LANDS  OF 

tiny  worked  in  and  through  the  great  soldier.  What 
was  thought  to  be  true  in  the  case  of  the  conqueror 
may  be  really  so  in  the  life  of  every  individual  true 
to  God.  The  will  of  the  fully  consecrated  believer  is 
so  reinforced  by  the  grace  of  God  that  he  pursues  the 
path  of  duty  in  the  spirit  of  a  conqueror.  Where  is 
the  secret  of  his  confidence  and  triumph  ?  "  For  it  is 
God  which  worketh  in  you  both  to  will  and  to  work, 
for  His  good  pleasure  "  (Phil.  2:  13). 

That  our  affections  should  be  purged  of  all  alloy  is 
to  be  ardently  desired,  and  they  will  be,  if  they  are 
consistently  set  on  things  above,  and  not  on  things  on 
the  earth.  When  our  Lord  proclaimed  the  blessedness 
of  the  pure  in  heart,  He  was  not  uttering  a  counsel 
of  unattainable  perfection;  such  a  heart  was  His  own, 
and  His  mission  was  to  create  a  copy  of  it  in  the  breast 
of  His  every  disciple.  An  investigation  in  Switzer- 
land has  shown  that  mortality  caused  by  organic  dis- 
ease of  the  heart  decreases  as  the  altitude  of  the  habi- 
tation rises.  Is  it  not  true  that  as  we  raise  the  ideal 
and  tone  of  life,  walking  with  God  on  high  places,  that 
the  false  motions  of  the  heart  are  checked,  its  secret 
idolatries  rebuked,  its  wanderings  recalled,  its  waning 
fires  relighted  ?  So  nothing  in  our  whole  nature  ought 
to  rest  on  a  lower  level  of  motive,  principle,  or  design ; 
"  all  that  is  within  us  "  ought  to  respond  to  the  up- 
lifting, transfiguring  grace. 

We  must  not  forget  that  the  reality  of  interior  sanc- 
tification  is  evidenced  by  excellence  of  character  and 
conduct.  Out  of  profound  spirituality  ought  to  spring 
commanding  practical  goodness.  We  are  told  by  the 
naturalist  that  on  their  native  rocks  and  ledges  Alpine 
flowers  are  specially  rich  and  gorgeous.  The  deep 
blue  of  the  gentians,  as  well  as  crimson,  rich  reds, 


THE  PERFECTED  LIFE  173 

purple,  gold-yellow,  and  pure  white,  are  scattered  in 
lavish  profusion.  Lowland  flowers  when  transferred 
to  Alpine  gardens  at  6,000  feet  become  richer  and 
deeper  and  more  vivid  in  color.  The  reverse  is  equally 
true,  for  these  mountaineers  are  neither  so  gorgeous 
nor  so  rich  planted  in  the  lowlands  as  on  their  native 
rocks  and  ledges ;  their  color  fades,  their  glory  is  lost.' 
Is  not  this  a  parable  of  the  graces  of  life  as  cultivated 
on  the  lowlands  of  experience,  or  on  Jts  mountain 
heights?  We  cannot  define  the  beauty  of  character 
felt  in  sincere  spiritually-minded  people,  as  Forbes 
Robinson  recognized  in  Westcott,  any  more  than  we 
can  define  other  forms  of  beauty;  yet  it  is  undeniable 
that  there  is  a  singular  charm  of  character  in  the 
genuine  saint.  We  cannot  live  "  quite  on  the  verge  of 
heaven  '*  without  sharing  in  its  beauty  and  sweetness. 

A  French  art  critic  writes:  "  Neither  the  refinements 
of  elegance  nor  the  refinements  of  intelligence  are 
compatible  with  virtue."  A  shopkeeper  would  cer- 
tainly exact  ready  money  from  such  a  dainty  customer. 
Revelation  knows  of  no  refinements  incompatible  with 
virtue;  all  the  refinements,  perfections,  transcenden- 
talisms, on  which  it  insists  signify  a  severer  and  sub- 
limer  virtue.  The  saint  is  not  to  be  known  by  a  uni- 
form or  a  shibboleth.  Whatever  verbal  exposition  of 
sanctification  may  be  nearest  to  the  fact,  let  us  not 
forget  that  the  final  test  of  its  nature  and  profession 
is  ethical.  "  What  do  ye  more  than  others?  "  (Matt. 
6:  47).  "  Every  blessing  in  Christ  Jesus  '*  must  pro- 
duce an  answering  virtue.  "  The  weightier  matters  of 
the  law  "  must  be  obeyed,  and  at  the  same  time  the 
details  of  duty  express  the  divinest  principles.  Amid 
all  the  pomp  of  Sinai  the  neighbor's  ass  was  not  for- 
*  Scott-Elliot,  Botany  of  To-day. 


174  THE  TABLE-LANDS  OF 

gotten.  And  all  practical  goodness  must  be  carried  to 
a  rare  perfection.  No  other  distinction  is  to  be  sought 
than  that  of  fine  behavior.  The  Church  long  ago  fell 
into  the  error  of  attempting  to  distinguish  the  Church 
within  the  Church  by  adopting  a  variety  of  arbitrary 
signs,  but  personal  merit  is  the  one  sufficient  sign  of 
reality.  All  who  are  seeking  honestly  to  work  out  the 
nobler  ideal  will  be  known  by  their  fairness  and  honor, 
by  their  strength  and  gentleness,  by  their  restraint, 
humility,  reverence,  magnanimity,  and  beneficence. 
Well  said  an  old  writer,  "  Let  those  who  would  be 
singular  be  very  virtuous." 

3.  To  attain  the  heights  and  dwell  there  implies  a 
perfected  blessedness.  "  Every  spiritual  blessing  in  the 
heavenly  places."  "And  Peter  answered,  and  said 
unto  Jesus,  Lord,  it  is  good  for  us  to  be  here  "  (Matt. 
17:  4).  It  is  always  good  to  be  with  Him,  the  meaner 
elements  beneath  our  feet.  No  experience  of  initial 
discipleship  is  without  its  deep  satisfaction — but  as- 
cending the  hill  of  the  Lord  and  dwelling  in  the  holy 
place,  we  see  more  fully  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  and 
receive  more  richly  of  His  fullness.  "  The  heavenly 
places  "  must  be  good  to  live  in.  All  things  there  are 
pure  and  delightful.  Professor  Joly  tells  of  the  vast 
number  of  bees  and  butterflies  that  he  noticed  in  the 
higher  Alps.  It  would  seem  that  they  quit  the  pas- 
tures and  dare  the  glaciers,  lured  by  the  rarer  sweet- 
ness of  the  flowers  growing  on  the  higher  reaches  of 
the  mountain.  Another  writer  testifies,  "  No  Greek 
honey  can  match  the  luxury  you  get  among  the  Sen- 
nereien  of  the  higher  Alps.  The  flowers  that  thrive 
along  the  meridian  of  the  snows  offer  the  most  delicate 
pasture  for  fastidious  bees."  Once  more  we  see  as  in 
a  glass  the  image  of  the  spiritual  truth.     Slighting  all 


THE  PEEFECTED  LIFE  175 

inferior  gratifications,  renouncing  all  dubious  com- 
promises, giving  himself  wholly  to  the  Lord,  the  be- 
liever realizes  a  blessedness  that  he  never  knew  as  a 
half-hearted  disciple.  With  the  nearer  approach,  the 
closer  communion,  the  full  reliance  of  the  heart  in  the 
promises  of  God  and  sincerest  delight  in  the  law  of 
God,  we  find  the  restfulness  and  sweetness  of  which 
the  psalmist  sings  so  exultingly. 

In  this  highest  realm  we  most  securely  meet  tempta- 
tion. Whatever  we  may  be,  wherever  we  may  stand, 
we  are  in  nowise  exempt  from  temptation;  but  it  is 
the  soundest  wisdom  to  choose  our  own  ground,  and 
that  the  highest,  on  which  to  fight  our  battles.  "  For, 
our  wrestling  is  not  against  flesh  and  blood,  but  against 
the  principalities,  against  the  powers,  against  the 
world-rulers  of  this  darkness,  against  the  spiritual 
hosts  of  wickedness  in  the  heavenly  places"  (Eph. 
6:  12).  A  mysterious  and  terrible  array,  and  yet  one 
of  whose  existence  and  power  we  have  least  reason  to 
doubt.  Our  advantage  lies  on  the  high  places  of  the 
field.  When  the  alien  army  debouches  on  celestial 
ground,  it  is  at  the  utmost  disadvantage.  In  the 
strong,  clear  light,  how  transparent  become  its  dis- 
guises! Its  braveries  wax  mean;  its  gold  becomes 
mockery ;  its  flowers  funereal ;  the  spells  of  the  tempt- 
ress and  tempter  are  broken;  its  boasted  heroes — 
pride,  selfishness,  lust,  ambition,  and  fraud — dwindle 
into  insignificance  in  the  eyes  of  the  soldiers  of  Christ 
who  have  seen  the  realities  of  greatness,  pleasure,  and 
wealth.  We  have  the  example  of  our  Lord  to  encour- 
age us  when  we  meet  temptation  on  high  ground,  on  a 
field  far  higher  than  the  exceeding  high  mountain ;  and 
His  victory  there  assures  ours.  Living  the  life  of  en- 
tire consecration,  we  are  at  our  best  in  encountering 


176    TABLE-LANDS  OF  PERFECTED  LIFE 

the  foe;  in  vigor,  preparedness,  confidence,  we  over- 
come the  spirits  of  wickedness.  War  in  heaven  in- 
evitably ends  with  the  victory  of  the  saints,  as  with  the 
victory  of  the  angels. 

It  is  easy  to  suffer  and  die  in  the  "  heavenlies."  It 
was  whilst  St.  Paul  dwelt  there  that  he  dared  to  call 
the  afflictions  of  life,  of  which  he  had  a  full  share, 
"  light,"  and  "  but  for  a  moment."  A  larger  experi- 
ence of  the  heavenly  grace  thus  abates  even  the  tragical 
sorrows  of  the  present  time.  And  to  die  in  the 
"  heavenlies  "  is  not  to  see  death.  As  in  the  Finland 
summer,  at  midnight  the  sun  just  dips  below  the  hori- 
zon and  no  more,  there  is  no  division  between  the  sun- 
set and  the  dawn ;  the  same  rosy  flush  serves  for  both ; 
so  is  the  sunset  of  the  saint,  and  the  dawn  of  eternal 
day —one  melts  into  the  other  with  sweet  surprise. 

An  old  controversy  was  waged  over  the  question, 
Do  we  enter  into  this  higher  life  by  one  distinct  act 
of  faith,  or  do  we  grow  into  it  by  degrees?  Perhaps 
both;  we  may  pass  the  snow-line  without  being  dis- 
tinctly conscious  of  the  hour  and  circumstance,  the 
grand  point  being  that  we  do  pass  it.  We  soon  become 
conscious  when  we  have  entered  into  a  larger  blessing. 
Leaving  disputation,  let  us  set  our  soul  on  the  realiza- 
tion of  all  that  Christ  purchased  for  us,  and  lives  to 
give  us;  then  shall  we  realize  the  glorious  promise, 
"  The  sun  shall  be  no  more  thy  light  by  day ;  neither 
for  brightness  shall  the  moon  give  light  unto  thee :  but 
the  Lord  shall  be  unto  thee  an  everlasting  light,  and 
thy  God  thy  glory.  Thy  sun  shall  no  more  go  down, 
neither  shall  thy  moon  withdraw  itself:  for  the  Lord 
shall  be  thine  everlasting  light,  and  the  days  of  thy 
mourning  shall  be  ended  "  (Isa.  60:  19,  30). 


XIII 

THE  ASSURANCE  OF  HOPE 

God,  being  minded  to  show  more  abundantly  unto  the  heirs  of 
the  promise  the  imnmtability  of  His  counsel,  interposed  with  an 
oath:  that  by  tivo  immutable  things,  in  which  it  is  impossible  for 
God  to  lie,  we  may  have  a  strong  encouragement,  who  have  fled 
for  refuge  to  lay  hold  of  the  hope  set  before  us;  which  we  have 
as  an  anchor  of  the  soul,  a  hope  both  sure  and  steadfast  and  en- 
tering into  that  which  is  within  the  veil. — Hebrews  6 :  17-19. 

THE  Christian  hope  not  only  irradiates  our 
temporal  future,  it  stretches  beyond  the  bor- 
ders of  the  present,  anticipating  a  future  and 
an  enduring  life.  In  the  light  of  revelation  we  are 
already  citizens  of  the  eternal;  the  emptiness  and  im- 
permanence  that  seem  to  beset  us  is  an  appearance 
only ;  there  is  an  underlying  reality  to  which  every  true 
life  is  related,  and  in  that  relation  arises  the  sense  of 
deathlessness.  Already  we  must  count  ourselves  im- 
mortal, dealing  directly  with  "  the  things  that  cannot 
be  moved."  The  present  is  of  unspeakable  significance, 
just  as  it  is  the  beginning  of  a  far-reaching  destiny. 
As  tersely  stated  by  Whichcote,  "  We  must  now  natu- 
ralize ourselves  to  the  employment  of  eternity." 

The  immense  importance  of  the  question  of  our  im- 
mortality is  well  expressed  by  Dr.  McTaggart,  who, 
in  criticizing  Hegel  for  his  omission  to  emphasize  the 
immortality  of  the  individual,  writes:  "It  remains  a 
defect  in  his  work.  For  this  is  a  question  which  no 
philosophy  can  be  justified  in  treating  as  insignificant. 

177 


178  THE  ASSUEANCE  OF  HOPE 

A  philosopher  may  answer  it  affirmatively,  or  nega- 
tively, or  may  deny  his  power  of  answering  it  at  all. 
But  however  he  may  deal  with  it,  he  is  clearly  wrong  if 
he  treats  it  as  unimportant.  For  it  does  not  only  make 
all  the  difference  for  the  future,  but  it  makes  a  pro- 
found difference  for  the  present.  Am  I  eternal,  or  am 
I  a  mere  temporary  manifestation  of  something  eternal 
which  is  not  myself?  The  answer  to  this  question 
may  not  greatly  influence  my  duties  in  everyday  life. 
But  we  can  scarcely  exaggerate  the  difference  which 
will  be  made  in  our  estimate  of  our  place  in  the  uni- 
verse, and,  consequently,  in  our  ideals,  our  aspirations, 
our  hopes,  the  whole  of  the  emotional  coloring  of  our 
lives." ' 

Let  us,  then,  review  some  of  the  considerations 
which  assure  this  hope.  In  our  text  God  is  said  to 
give  to  Abraham  a  certain  promise  for  the  future,  con- 
firming it  by  an  oath.  Let  us  say  that  the  Almighty 
Spirit  wrought  in  the  mind  of  the  patriarch  a  luminous 
hope  that  had  all  the  positiveness  of  a  divine  assevera- 
tion. So,  argues  the  writer  of  this  Epistle,  we  have  a 
twofold  assurance  of  a  great  future.  "  Two  im- 
mutable things  " — the  promise  confirmed  by  an  oath. 
What,  then,  does  this  mean  to  us?  Shall  we  misin- 
terpret the  spirit  of  our  text  if  we  take  it  to  signify 
that  in  nature  God  has  given  us  an  intimation  of  im- 
mortality, and  in  redemption  confirmed  it  by  an  oath  ? 
We  hail  a  double  rainbow;  the  promise  in  the  consti- 
tution of  things,  and  that  promise  made  absolute  in 
Christ. 

I.  Consider  the  natural  basis  of  the  great  hope. 
Suggestions  arising  out  of  the  depths  of  our  nature 
cannot  be  lightly  set  aside,  and  in  various  ways  such 
'  Studies  in  Hegelian  Cosmology. 


THE  ASSUKANCE  OF  HOPE  179 

suggestions  force  themselves  upon  us.  We  do  not 
know  of  a  time  when  the  doctrine  of  a  future  life  was 
not  held;  and  if  any  belief  whatever  is  to  be  consid- 
ered universal,  it  is  this.  Sometimes  a  sanction  for  the 
doctrine  is  found  in  the  structure  of  the  mind.  The 
invincible  feeling  that  we  are  too  big  for  this  world, 
and  never  exhaust  ourselves  in  a  brief  life,  persuades 
many.  The  indestructibility  of  matter  and  mind  is  a 
theory  that  carries  weight  with  others.  Our  delight  in 
greatness  and  permanence  is  often  urged  as  a  token 
that  death  does  not  end  all.  Very  varied  are  the  argu- 
ments by  which  men  express  their  impatience  with 
temporal  limitations;  some  of  them,  we  are  bound  to 
say,  are  not  specially  convincing,  yet  it  is  significant 
that  from  so  many  points  of  view  we  get  glimpses  of 
a  larger  life. 

Thinkers  who  most  emphatically  reject  revelation 
nevertheless  continue  to  construe  hopefully  the  prob- 
lem of  the  hereafter.  "  To  execute  great  things  a  man 
must  live  as  though  he  had  never  to  die,*'  was  a  maxim 
of  Vauvenargues,  and  one,  we  are  told,  that  gained  the 
lively  praise  of  Voltaire.  Many  workers  of  a  sceptical 
temper,  who  have  done  great  things,  did  reason  thus. 
Approaching  the  problem  from  different  points  of 
view,  they  reached  the  same  conclusion.  A  meta- 
physician like  Montesquieu  bears  this  witness :  "  I 
know  not  how  the  atheists  think,  but,  for  myself,  I 
would  not  exchange  the  idea  of  my  immortality  for  the 
happiness  of  a  day.  I  delight  in  believing  that  I  am 
immortal  as  God  Himself.  Independently  of  revela- 
tion, metaphysics  give  me  a  very  strong  hope  of  my 
eternal  happiness,  which  I  would  not  willingly  re- 
nounce." We  are  not  surprised  that  a  religious  painter 
like  Sir  Charles  Eastlake  should  write:  "Beauty,  in 


180  THE  ASSURANCE  OF  HOPE 

all  its  highest  forms,  is  calculated  to  impress  on  human 
beings  the  belief  in  a  perfection  greater  than  this  world 
contains '' ;  but  it  is  impressive  to  know  that  another 
aesthete  and  a  doubter  like  Goethe  should  be  so  firmly 
persuaded  of  immortality:  "The  philosopher  does  not 
need  the  countenance  of  religion  to  prove  certain 
doctrines;  as,  for  instance,  eternal  duration.  Man 
should  believe  in  immortality;  he  has  a  right  to  this 
belief;  it  corresponds  with  the  wants  of  his  nature, 
and  he  may  believe  in  the  promises  of  religion.  To 
me,  the  eternal  existence  of  my  soul  is  proved  from  my 
idea  of  activity ;  if  I  work  on  incessantly  till  my  death, 
Nature  is  bound  to  give"  me  another  form  of  existence 
when  the  present  one  can  no  longer  sustain  my  spirit." 
Balzac  also  was  of  opinion  that  practical  life  tends  to 
produce  this  conviction,  for  he  puts  these  words  into 
the  mouth  of  his  Country  Doctor:  "After  I  am  gone, 
my  work  of  civilization  will  continue.  When  you  have 
set  yourself  to  do  anything,  something  within  you 
urges  you  on,  you  see,  and  you  cannot  bear  to  leave  it 
unfinished.  The  craving  within  us  for  order  and  per- 
fection is  one  of  the  signs  that  point  most  surely  to  a 
future  existence.'*  Any  number  of  similar  testimonies 
from  the  ranks  of  rationalism  to  the  same  effect  might 
be  adduced.  Men  do  not  get  rid  of  religious  beliefs 
because  they  leave  the  Church  and  formally  renounce 
its  creed,  nor  altogether  even  when  they  lapse  into  a 
sensual  life;  in  defiance  of  all,  the  deathless  principle 
persists,  makes  its  presence  felt,  its  voice  heard,  its 
majesty  acknowledged,  where  and  when  least  expected. 
Again,  it  is  instructive  to  note  that  whilst  a  future 
life  is  denied,  a  substitute  for  it  more  or  less  mystical 
is  supplied.  George  Meredith  writes  of  the  Christian 
belief  in  immortality  as  "a  sensual  dream,"  and  as 


THE  ASSURANCE  OF  HOPE  181 

"  the  smoking  of  priest's  opium  " ;  but  in  a  letter  im- 
mediately following  addressed  to  a  lady  who  has  lost 
her  husband,  he  continues  in  this  strain:  "You  are 
right  as  to  my  affection  for  him.  He  was  one  of  the 
few  true  men  I  have  known.  And,  my  friend,  these 
men  live  in  us.  And  more,  they  are  the  higher  work 
of  Nature,  which  she  will  not  let  pass  away.  They 
have  the  eternal  in  them.  I  do  not  look  on  death  as 
a  victory  over  us.  Death  and  life  are  neighbors,  each 
the  cause  of  the  other;  and  the  Task  for  us,  under 
stress  of  deprivation,  is  to  take  our  loved  ones  into  the 
mind,  and  commune  with  them  spirit  to  spirit — so  will 
they  be  wedded  to  us  faster,  closer  about  us,  than  when 
we  had  the  voices  and  eyes."  '  Whose  opium  is  this? 
Very  fine  poetry,  well  intended,  pathetic,  but  surely 
nothing  more  than  a  delicate  narcotic,  a  lulling  drug. 
The  alchemist  was  reputed  to  be  able  to  create  from 
the  ashes  of  the  rose  a  faint  vaporous  image  of  the 
perished  flower,  only  without  its  color  and  fragrance ; 
having  rejected  the  substantial  hope  of  immortality, 
the  poet  supplies  this  spectral  substitute.  It  is,  how- 
ever, an  unmistakable  confession  that  when  the  crisis 
comes  we  cannot  all  at  once  reconcile  ourselves  to  the 
idea  of  annihilation. 

Philosophy  assumes  to  console  us  with  a  larger  hori- 
zon. In  lieu  of  the  hope  of  personal  immortality,  it 
dwells  upon  the  fact  that  our  individual  life  may  be 
protracted  in  the  life  of  humanity.  Eventually  the 
earth  must  perish,  but  until  that  catastrophe  occurs  we 
shall  live  in  the  forces  we  set  in  motion,  our  life  thus 
becoming  practically  as  immense  as  that  of  the  race. 
Positivism  lacks  the  courage  boldly  to  drop  us  into  the 
gulf  of  nothingness,  and  so  affects  to  soothe  us  by  sub- 

^  Letters,  vol.  ii.,  p.  424. 


182  THE  ASSURAI^CE  OF  HOPE 

stituting  an  immortality  of  influence  for  one  of  per- 
sonal consciousness.  If  a  man  live  nobly,  the  fact  of 
the  immortality  of  influence  may  justly  inspire  comfort 
when  he  comes  to  bid  the  world  farewell;  but  that  is 
only  a  portion  of  his  great  heritage.  Human  nature 
will  not  stand  the  blunt  denial  of  its  proper  immortal- 
ity, and  so  the  Positivist  priest  must  foist  into  his 
funeral  service  an  immortality  of  some  sort.  More 
recently  Rationalism  has  felt  the  need  of  still  further 
expanding  the  horizon.  The  interval  between  the 
present  and  the  destruction  of  our  globe  does  not  sat- 
isfy man's  insatiable  appetite  for  existence,  therefore 
the  horizon  must  be  pushed  farther  back.  Man,  say 
these  philosophers  who  reject  revelation  and  yet  still 
hanker  after  an  equivalent  for  immortality,  will  never 
become  perfect  in  this  world,  for  it  will  not  last  long 
enough;  in  a  future  universe  he  will  become  perfect. 
When  the  sun  has  gone  out,  there  will  be  other  suns, 
worlds,  and  moons.  Human  tendencies,  moral  tend- 
encies, will  survive  the  destruction  of  the  present  uni- 
verse, and  be  perfected  in  a  subsequent  stage.  The 
mind  will  go  through  the  same  form  of  cosmic  evolu- 
tion as  matter;  and  all  the  tendencies  and  impulses  of 
the  present  existence  will  have  their  results  in  another 
existence.  Mankind  can  complete  only  a  part  of  its 
evolution  upon  this  planet;  the  rest  will  be  accom- 
plished upon  other  planets,  and  throughout  all  time,  till 
man  becomes  divine."  In  South  Africa  a  law  exists 
directed  against  illicit  diamond  dealing.  Is  not  this  ra- 
tionalistic theory  of  the  future  a  jewel  stolen  from  the 
treasury  of  revelation?  No;  it  is  not  a  crown  jewel; 
it  is  a  paste  diamond,  a  labored  imitation  of  the  origi- 
nal, yet  at  the  same  time,  doing  sincerest  homage  to  the 
*Hearn,  Interpretations  of  Literature, 


THE  ASSUEANCE  OF  HOPE  183 

original.  When  a  man  subscribes  to  this  philosophical 
theory,  how  far  short  is  he  of  the  theological  dogma? 
He  has  arrived  pretty  much  at  the  same  conclusion, 
only  by  a  perverse  process.  What  he  rejected  as  an 
article  of  religious  faith  he  adopts  as  a  philosophical 
inference. 

It  is  often  contended  that  the  millions  of  the  East 
do  not  hold  this  doctrine  of  immortality.  But  it  must 
always  be  remembered  that  whilst  an  atheistic  or  a 
pantheistic  doctrine  of  negation  is  professed,  its  dis- 
ciples find  a  refuge  from  the  dread  of  blank  extinction 
in- the  anticipation  of  transmigrations  and  absorptions 
which  constitute  practically  the  equivalent  of  a  doc- 
trine of  immortality.  It  is  an  uncomfortable  pros- 
pect; but  such  as  it  is,  it  is  a  refusal  to  accept  the 
funeral  pyre  as  the  goal  of  existence.  In  the  absence 
of  a  clearer  revelation  the  instinct  has  run  wild  and 
burlesqued  the  sublime  truth ;  still,  the  instinct  is  there, 
and  in  an  abnormal  way  asserts  its  power. 

Our  point  is,  then,  that  an  expectation  of  a  life 
beyond  is  implanted  in  our  nature,  inwritten  in  the 
very  constitution  of  things.  Many  lines  of  argument, 
starting  from  many  dissimilar  points,  converge  on  the 
one  conviction ;  and  in  the  absence  of  all  reasonings  we 
are  agitated  by  mysterious  aspirations  which  certainly 
do  not  belong  to  the  beasts  which  perish.  As  Words- 
worth testifies. 

Yet  to  me  I  feel 
That  an  internal  brightness  is  vouchsafed 
That  must  not  die,  that  must  not  pass  away. 

As  Emerson  says,  "  The  blazing  evidence  of  immor- 
tality is  our  dissatisfaction  with  any  other  solution." 
The  great  hope  is  the  promise  of  God  to  the  race, 
written  by  His  finger  in  the  very  fabric  of  our  being; 


184  THE  ASSURANCE  OF  HOPE 

and  however  the  writing  may  from  time  to  time  be 
obscured  and  misinterpreted  through  ignorance,  sensu- 
aUty,  or  sophistry,  it  cannot  be  effaced  or  denied.  If 
the  biologist  reads  in  the  bodily  instincts  the  records 
of  the  past,  we  may  surely  read  with  no  less  confidence 
in  the  aspirations  of  the  soul  the  prophecy  of  the  fu- 
ture; if  truth  springeth  out  of  the  earth,  it  not  less 
shines  from  heaven.  We  can  never  believe  that  a 
"  faithful  Creator "  has  deceived  the  work  of  His 
hands  by  inspiring  the  large  desire,  or  that  He  will  fail 
to  honor  the  instinct  that  He  has  implanted  deep  in  the 
creature's  heart. 

H.  If  in  Nature  we  have  the  promise  of  immortal- 
ity, in  Christ  that  promise  has  been  made  absolute,  con- 
firmed by  an  oath.  The  rainbow  that  spans  the 
churchyard  is  not  a  lunar  bow,  faint  and  dubious,  but 
clear,  bold,  intense,  like  unto  an  emerald.  It  is  of  the 
first  importance  that  we  bring  every  assumed  truth  to 
the  test  of  Christ's  teaching.  St.  John  admonishes  us 
to  try  the  spirits  by  judging  them  in  their  relation  to 
our  Lord,  and  thus  must  we  judge  whatever  doctrines 
and  theories  solicit  our  reliance.  How,  then,  does  this 
doctrine  of  human  immortality  look  in  the  light  of 
Christ,  of  His  life,  teaching,  and  work? 

Our  Lord  Himself  is  the  supreme  argument  for  the 
doctrine.  "  For  verily  not  of  angels  doth  He  take 
hold,  but  He  taketh  hold  of  the  seed  of  Abraham. 
Wherefore  it  behoved  Him  in  all  things  to  be  made 
like  unto  His  brethren  "  (Heb.  2:  16,  17).  He  is  the 
embodiment  of  the  ideal  humanity;  what  He  is,  it  is 
in  reality;  humanity  is  that  in  the  thought  of  God. 
Through  passion,  selfishness,  and  willfulness,  through 
grievous  ill-treatment,  the  greatness  of  humanity  had 
become  obscured;  the  image  of  God  was  not  effaced. 


THE  ASSUKAJSrCE  OF  HOPE  185 

yet  sadly  defaced;  being  made  subject  to  vanity,  a 
lofty  destiny  no  longer  seemed  credible.  But  in  the 
Incarnation  its  essential  grandeur  was  reasserted,  its 
blemishes  cleansed,  its  divine  strength  and  beauty 
manifested,  and  its  claim  to  glory,  honor,  and  immor- 
tality finally  vindicated.  We  can  now  no  more  think 
of  man  as  a  temporal  manifestation  than  we  can  think 
of  Christ  as  such ;  and  how  impossible  to  think  that  of 
Him !  "  The  Word  became  flesh,  and  dwelt  among 
us,  and  we  beheld  His  glory,"  and  in  that  sublime  event 
we  are  assured  of  our  divine  lineage,  immense  capac- 
ity, and  enduring  inheritance.  It  is  the  accepted  rule 
to  judge  of  the  nature  and  worth  of  things  as  seen  in 
their  highest  embodiment,  and  we  justly  estimate  hu- 
man nature  as  revealed  in  our  Lord.  When  this  is 
done,  how  unthinkable  it  becomes  that  we  are  ex- 
hausted in  this  fugitive  life!  "  The  free  gift  of  God 
is  eternal  life  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord  "  (Rom.  6: 23). 
He  is  the  proof  supreme  and  pledge  of  immortality. 

The  teaching  of  our  Lord  declares  our  high  and 
holy  calling  to  reach  far  beyond  the  world  of  time  and 
sense.  He  never  attempts  to  prove  the  persistence  of 
life,  never  even  formally  asserts  it,  but  it  is  consistently 
assumed;  the  consciousness  of  our  undying  greatness 
is  the  very  soul  of  His  teaching.  He  never  distin- 
guishes this  world  from  a  future  one ;  He  knows  only 
one  world,  the  eternal  world,  and  ever  speaks  from  its 
depths ;  it  determines  all  His  teaching,  and  is  the  power 
of  that  teaching.  The  evangelists  give  no  hint  that 
He  ever  thought  of  us  as  creatures  of  a  day;  in  His 
eyes  we  are  always  the  children  of  God,  partakers  of 
the  divine  nature,  destined  to  tenant  the  many  man- 
sions of  His  Father's  house,  and  He  ever  addressed  us 
as  such.     In  His  conversation  with  the  Sadducees  He 


186  THE  ASSUEANCE  OF  HOPE 

showed  that  the  Old  Testament  sanctioned  the  doc- 
trines of  resurrection  and  immortaUty,  rebuking  them 
for  their  unbehef :  "  Ye  do  err,  not  knowing  the  scrip- 
tures, nor  the  power  of  God"  (Matt.  22:  29).  But 
those  doctrines  were  contained  in  the  ancient  oracles 
chiefly  by  implication.  Nansen  tells  that  when  the 
long  Arctic  winter  was  approaching  its  end,  an  image 
of  the  sun  appeared,  a  mirage ;  the  sun  itself  was  yet 
below  the  horizon,  and  it  was  days  before  its  disk 
appeared  above  the  ice.  So  in  lawgiver,  prophet,  and 
psalmist,  the  Jew  saw  an  image,  a  reflection,  a  mirage 
of  the  great  hope ;  but  it  was  only  in  the  coming  of  our 
Lord  that  the  glorious  orb  of  immortality  arose  upon 
our  race,  causing  "  the  springing  day  to  shine."  Not 
all  at  once,  not  violently,  not  in  a  glare  and  dazzle, 
not  perplexing  and  confusing  terrestrial  life,  but 
softly,  silently,  sweetly,  like  the  growing  light  of  the 
morning,  did  the  knowledge  of  eternal  life  dawn  upon 
a  weary  and  despairing  world.  The  light  of  immor- 
tality rests  upon  every  page  of  the  Gospels,  and  the 
apostles,  who  so  well  knew  the  thought  and  purpose  of 
their  Master,  awoke  the  nations  to  new  life  and  hope 
by  their  message  of  incorruption,  by  the  vision  of  a 
world  of  perfected  and  enduring  blessedness. 

The  whole  of  Christ's  redemptive  work  proceeded 
on  the  same  assumption.  What  do  His  unparalleled 
sufferings  mean  except  the  strange  importance  of  those 
for  whom  they  were  endured  ?  "  For  it  became  Him, 
for  whom  are  all  things,  and  through  whom  are  all 
things,  in  bringing  many  sons  unto  glory,  to  make  the 
Author  of  their  salvation  perfect  through  sufferings  " 
(Heb.  2:  10).  Surely  the  Cross  does  not  contemplate 
the  salvation  of  creatures  doomed  to  a  swift  oblivion! 
Its  obvious  signification  is  that  a  great  price  was  paid 


THE  ASSUKANCE  OF  HOPE  187 

for  a  great  salvation  on  behalf  of  those  who  were  in- 
trinsically worthy  of  it.  And  what  does  that  empty 
grave  of  the  Crucified  proclaim  and  promise  for  the 
redeemed  ?  "  But  now  hath  Christ  been  raised  from 
the  dead,  the  first-fruits  of  them  that  are  asleep.  For 
since  by  man  came  death,  by  man  came  also  the  resur- 
rection of  the  dead.  For  as  in  Adam  all  die,  so  also 
in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive  "  (1  Cor.  15:  20-22). 
It  is  related  that  when  the  mummy  of  the  "  lovely 
Thais,"  the  friend  of  Alexander  the  Great,  was  dis- 
covered, she  was  holding  in  her  withered  hand  a  rose- 
of-Jericho,  a  symbol  of  the  resurrection;  the  Rose  of 
Sharon,  assuring  a  better  resurrection,  perfumes  the 
grave  of  the  saint.  Now  and  forever  He  is  the  Living 
One,  and  because  He  lives  we  shall  live  also.  "  We 
have  as  an  anchor  of  the  soul,  a  hope  both  sure  and 
steadfast  and  entering  into  that  which  is  within  the 
veil ;  whither  as  a  forerunner  Jesus  entered  for  us." 

*'  By  two  immutable  things  in  which  it  is  impossible 
for  God  to  deceive  us,  we  have  strong  encouragement." 
Has  not  Heaven,  then,  granted  in  this  twofold  pledge 
the  utmost  assurance  of  which  the  case  admits?  A 
sceptical  writer  makes  light  of  the  witness  of  the 
human  heart  in  its  strong  desires  and  aspirations  after 
a  vaster  life,  referring  us  to  the  asylum,  where  we  see 
the  futility  of  splendid  dreams  and  fancies.  We  do 
not  seek  our  evidences  in  asylums,  but  in  rational  and 
normal  life,  and  it  is  entirely  philosophical  to  reckon 
with  the  incurable  desires  and  intuitions  of  the  soul. 
"  Doth  not  even  Nature  itself  teach  you  ?  "  cries  the 
apostle,  treating  another  subject;  and  he  would  have 
placed  still  greater  emphasis  on  that  argument  here. 
It  is  a  wholly  legitimate  source  of  knowledge  and 
prescience,  and  it  will  be  found  that  the  very  men  who 


188  THE  ASSURANCE  OF  HOPE 

ignore  its  testimony  in  relation  to  immortality  are 
usually  foremost  to  recognize  the  validity  of  the  in- 
stinctive on  any  other  question.  A  few  months  before 
his  death  Charles  Reade  wrote  to  a  correspondent: 
"Alas !  evidence  of  what  we  both  pine  to  believe  comes 
not  to  me;  I  am  of  little  faith."  But  was  not  the  fact 
that  both  "  pined  to  believe  "  an  evidence  itself  not  to 
be  disregarded?  It  is  no  trait  of  wholesome,  rational 
life  to  consume  itself  longing  for  impossibilities;  such 
may  be  the  case  in  abnormal  instances,  but  we  refuse 
to  believe  that  the  hope  of  the  future  native  to  our 
common  humanity  is  an  illusion  born  of  disease.  The 
title-deeds  of  immortality  written  by  the  finger  of  God 
in  the  red  pages  of  the  heart,  which  in  a  pristine  state 
would  have  proved  sufficient  against  every  exigency, 
have  through  our  sin  and  folly  become  faint  and  dubi- 
ous; yet  are  they  decipherable,  alike  for  our  humilia- 
tion and  our  great  encouragement. 

And  now  the  endorsement  of  our  Lord!  What  a 
mighty,  sufficing  testimony  to  a  future  life  of  grandeur 
and  beatitude  is  the  New  Testament!  "A  hope  both 
sure  and  steadfast  and  entering  into  that  which  is 
within  the  veil."  St.  Paul  knew  a  good  deal  about 
anchors,  and  his  reference  to  the  anchor  in  this  place 
inclines  one  to  think  that  he  had  a  hand  in  this  Epistle. 
He  knew  by  painful  experience  of  anchors  that  do  not 
hold ;  but  this  is  one  that  will  neither  break  nor  drag. 
We  lay  hold  of  the  immutable  promise  of  God  in 
Christ ;  we  fasten  upon  the  eternal  grounds  of  the  di- 
vine truth  and  love  and  faithfulness,  and  fear  no  ship- 
wreck. Said  He  who  is  the  Truth  and  the  Life,  "  I 
give  unto  them  eternal  life;  and  they  shall  never  per- 
ish, and  no  one  shall  snatch  them  out  of  My  hand. 
My  Father,  which  hath  given  them  unto  Me,  is  greater 


THE  ASSUKAJSrCE  OF  HOPE  189 

than  all;  and  no  one  is  able  to  snatch  them  out  of  the 
Father's  hand.  I  and  the  Father  are  one"  (John 
10:  28,  29).  Let  us,  then,  be  satisfied  once  for  all;  let 
this  assured  confidence  fill  and  garrison  our  heart; 
through  all  the  years  let  it  make  us  strong  and  calm- 
and  when  heart  and  flesh  fail,  let  us  triumph  with  our 
Master,  for  no  triumph  can  be  more  absolute  and  sub- 
lime, "  Father,  into  Thy  hands  I  commend  My  spirit " 
(Luke  23:  46).  ^ 


XIV 
THE  ROYALTY  OF  SERVICE 

Jesus,  knowing  that  the  Father  had  given  all  things  into  His 
hands,  and  that  He  came  forth  from  God,  and  goeth  unto  God, 
riseth  from  supper,  and  layeth  aside  His  gannents;  and  He  took 
a  towel,  and  girded  Himself.  Then  He  poureth  water  into  the 
bason,  and  began  to  zvash  the  disciples'  feet,  and  to  wipe  them 
with  the  towel  wherewith  He  was  girded. — ^John  13 :  3-5. 

NO  self-centred,  self-serving  life  ensures  satis- 
faction. In  the  very  nature  of  things  it  is 
imperative  that  we  look  beyond  our  personal 
interests,  and  take  thought  for  the  welfare  of  our 
neighbor.  In  a  word,  unselfishness  is  a  fact  in  human 
nature  and  life,  as  truly  as  the  self-regarding  instincts 
are,  and  we  can  never  be  happy  whilst  we  cultivate  the 
latter  alone.  "  In  the  fierce  battle  of  life  there  is  small 
chance  for  the  exercise  of  charity.  We  have  no  evi- 
dence to  show,  apart  from  certain  instinctive  traits,  that 
one  being  ever  helps  another  unless  something  is  given 
in  return,"  is  the  verdict  of  the  naturalist  concerning 
the  world  of  plants  and  animals.  On  the  other  hand, 
human  society  gives  ample  room  for  the  exercise  of 
charity,  and  we  are  moved  to  assist  our  needy  neighbor 
without  thought  of  advantage.  Here,  then,  we  see  a 
striking  feature  differentiating  man  from  the  rest  of 
the  creation.  The  animal  or  plant  possesses  no  organ 
except  such  as  has  been  fashioned  for  its  own  advan- 
tage ;  but  in  the  human  mind  there  are  other-regarding 
impulses.  Our  thoughts  are  not  limited  to  our  own 
things  but  include  the  things  of  others;  our  affection 

190 


THE  KOYALTY  OF  SERVICE  191 

for  others  prompts  us  to  self-sacrifice  for  their  sakes ; 
we  plan  and  toil,  give  and  suffer  for  their  happiness. 

I.  Nowhere  has  the  sentiment  of  brotherhood  and 
all  that  it  implies  found  such  forcible  expression  as  in 
the  ministry  of  our  Lord.  His  life,  above  all  others, 
was  the  revelation  of  pure  and  undistinguishing  love ; 
and  whoever  has  the  mind  of  Christ  is  a  lover  of  hu- 
manity, a  friend  of  the  people,  a  servant  of  mankind, 
never  happier  than  when  he  finds  opportunity  to  serve 
and  to  bless.  That  the  pious  are  so  lost  in  other-world- 
liness,  and  so  absorbed  in  securing  their  own  salvation, 
that  they  neglect  the  sick  and  sorrowful  world  at  their 
feet,  is  a  stale  gibe  of  secularism  abundantly  refuted. 
Loyal  to  the  higher  universe,  the  Christian  is  not  less 
but  more  devoted  to  the  welfare  of  his  needy  brother. 
At  one  extremity  of  the  vegetable  world  the  air-plant 
and  orchid,  ethereal  things  usually  far  up  in  the  high 
forest  trees,  draw  their  nourishment  from  the  dew  and 
light  of  the  blue  heavens  in  which  they  are  embosomed, 
and  apparently  glance  superciliously  upon  the  earth  far 
below,  with  which  they  are  little  concerned;  whilst  at 
the  other  end  of  the  scale  are  those  Alpine  plants 
known  as  geophytes,  from  the  fact  that  the  chief  por- 
tion of  their  existence  is  spent  underground.  The 
godly  are  duplicates  neither  of  the  air-plant  aloof  in 
the  heights,  spurning  the  ground,  nor  of  the  geophyte 
buried  in  the  dust ;  rather  do  they  answer  to  the  lovely 
plants  of  the  temperate  zone,  which  at  one  and  the 
same  time  take  firm  hold  of  the  earth  and  drink  in  the 
celestial  influences  of  sun  and  shower,  starring  the 
landscape  with  their  beauty,  filling  the  air  with  their 
sweetness. 

The  instructed  Christian  acknowledges  his  double 
relationship  to  heaven  and  to  earth,  being  well  assured 


192  THE  KOYALTY  OF  SERVICE 

that  he  attains  to  the  utmost  glory  and  virtue  whilst 
true  to  both.  And  this  is  no  mere  theory;  a  rapid 
glance  over  the  nations  is  enough  to  satisfy  sincere 
men  as  to  the  reality,  immense  range,  and  manifold- 
ness  of  Christian  humanitarianism.  We  are  bold  to 
maintain  that  no  great  practical  system  of  benevolence 
exists  within  Christendom  but  has  its  roots  in  the 
Christian  Church,  and  derives  its  chief  support,  either 
directly  or  indirectly,  from  that  communion.  The 
Christian  fellowship  may  never  express  perfectly  the 
ideal  charity  of  its  Master,  yet  there  shines  through  it 
with  unmistakable  lustre  the  love  and  sacrifice  of  Him 
"  who  went  about  doing  good."  This  is  a  fact  not  to 
be  denied;  the  sacrificial  life  of  the  Church  vindicates 
its  doctrine.  And  the  absence  of  philanthropy  beyond 
the  borders  of  Christendom  is  significant.  The  leaders 
of  opinion  in  India,  China,  Burmah,  and  Japan,  whilst 
often  hostile  critics  of  the  Christian  faith,  are  con- 
strained to  do  homage  to  the  Christian  charity  which 
ministers  effectually  to  the  healing  and  feeding  of  the 
otherwise  neglected  native.  The  supreme  design  of 
the  Church  of  God  is  to  feed  the  perishing  multitude 
with  the  bread  of  everlasting  life,  yet  a  thousand 
flowers  of  gracious  charity  mingle  with  its  golden 
com. 

II.  We  specify  several  particulars  in  zvhich  the  pas- 
sion to  serve  is  reinforced  by  the  Christian  tradition. 

1.  The  New  Testament  has  established  the  dignity 
of  service.  The  nobleness  of  helpfulness  is  so  familiar 
to  the  modern  mind  that  we  are  ready  to  account  it  an 
innate  impulse,  one  common  to  men  of  all  generations ; 
it  is,  however,  far  otherwise.  The  ancients  knew  little 
of  modem  science,  yet  it  is  certain  that  they  knew  still 
less  of  our  philanthropy.     In  those  days  the  glory  of 


THE  KOYALTY  OF  SEEVICE  193 

the  opulent  and  great  was  estimated  by  the  number  of 
slaves  who  ministered  to  their  pride  and  pleasure; 
whilst  the  grandeur  of  a  nation  was  supposed  to  reside 
in  its  power  to  crush  and  destroy  its  neighbors.  In 
this  light  the  matter  was  regarded  all  over  the  earth, 
and  right  away  from  the  day  of  Nimrod.  It  was  the 
privilege  of  greatness  to  be  served;  served  at  the  ex- 
pense of  those  over  whom  by  force  it  could  establish 
authority. 

If  our  Lord  did  not  immediately  revolutionize  the 
thought  of  the  world  on  this  subject,  He  threw  upon 
it  a  marvellous  light  that  has  gradually  worked  such  a 
revolution.  In  that  symbolic  act  recorded  in  our  text 
was  expressed  the  essence  of  true  religion,  the  genius 
of  the  Christian  religion:  supreme  greatness  revealing 
its  utmost  glory  in  rendering  loving  service  to  the 
humble.  Whatever  may  be  said  about  the  natural 
growth  of  the  altruistic  principle,  history  makes  clear 
the  fact  that  the  ministry  of  our  Lord  created  an  abyss 
between  the  ancient  and  the  modern  estimate  of  great- 
ness. He  did  not  design  to  degrade  the  purple,  but  to 
explain  wherein  the  majesty  of  greatness  lay;  and  ever 
since  that  hour  it  has  been  understood  as  never  before 
that  no  coronation  is  complete  without  the  towel — nay, 
that  without  it  the  jewelled  raiment  is  a  mockery.  The 
apostles  rightly  interpreted  the  unique  act  of  their 
Lord ;  and  all  their  epistles  show  that  in  their  concep- 
tion of  the  Christian  Church  it  was  an  institution  de- 
signed to  console  the  afflicted,  to  counsel  the  perplexed, 
to  aid  the  needy,  and  in  a  thousand  ways  to  seek  and 
to  save  that  which  was  lost. 

At  the  present  hour  we  may  see  how  profoundly 
greatness  has  been  revalued,  for  no  institution,  office, 
or  movement  is  any  longer  cordially  honored  except  as 


194  THE  EOYALTY  OF  SERVICE 

in  some  real  sense  it  ministers  to  the  welfare  of  the 
people.  The  Church  commands  popular  reverence  ac- 
cording to  the  measure  of  its  sympathy  with  those  who 
need  it  most.  Its  venerable  traditions  and  ritual  splen- 
dor may  compel  the  homage  of  the  few,  but  its  human- 
ity more  and  more  commands  popular  esteem  and  af- 
fection. The  sight  of  a  single  rag  of  the  towel  attracts 
the  multitude  far  more  than  all  its  pomp  of  gold  and 
fine  needlework.  Governments  hitherto  have  only  im- 
perfectly apprehended  the  end  for  which  they  exist. 
What  Gibbon  says  about  kings  in  general,  that  *'  their 
power  is  most  effective  in  destruction,"  is  abundantly 
confirmed  by  all  history;  whilst  parliaments  have  been 
more  concerned  for  senatorial  aggrandizement  than 
for  the  public  well-being.  Silently  another  temper 
takes  possession  of  the  political  world.  The  best 
thought  of  the  greatest  thinkers  is  being  directed  to 
problems  involving  the  common  welfare ;  and  the  first 
of  these  problems  concerns  those  who,  for  one  reason 
or  another,  are  found  at  the  basis  of  the  social  struc- 
ture. In  the  wonderful  days  in  which  we  live  few 
things  are  more  wonderful  than  the  scrapping  of  royal 
regalia.  The  sweepings  of  palaces  lie  in  many  places 
in  glittering  heaps ;  rent  crowns,  broken  sceptres,  shat- 
tered swords,  polluted  purple,  historic  jewels,  gold 
plate,  ornaments,  and  heirlooms,  await  the  dustman. 
Not,  let  it  be  observed,  because  rulers  and  government 
are  to  become  obsolete,  but  that  the  towel  shall  hence- 
forth have  its  place  of  honor  in  the  wardrobe  of  kings. 
Modern  science  shares  in  the  spirit  of  service  and 
sacrifice.  Fears  are  sometimes  expressed  lest  the 
study  of  Nature  should  divert  attention  from  the 
claims  of  humanity;  but  there  seems  little  ground  for 
such  fears.     Pasteur  had  every  right  to  become  the 


THE  ROYALTY  OF  SERVICE  195 

spokesman  of  modern  science,  and  this  was  his  aspira- 
tion: *'  It  would  indeed  be  a  grand  thing  to  give  the 
heart  its  share  in  the  progress  of  science  " ;  and  when 
addressing  a  brilliant  assembly  of  scientists  in  Paris 
he  gave  utterance  to  this  confession  and  prophecy: 
"And  you,  delegates  from  foreign  nations,  who  have 
come  from  so  far  to  give  to  France  a  proof  of  sym- 
pathy, you  bring  me  the  deepest  joy  that  can  be  felt  by 
a  man  whose  invincible  belief  is  that  Science  and  Peace 
will  triumph  over  Ignorance  and  War,  that  nations 
will  unite,  not  to  destroy,  but  to  build,  and  that  the 
future  will  belong  to  those  who  zvill  have  done  most 
for  suffering  humanity''  ^  Even  the  exclusive  world 
of  art  is  no  longer  to  be  the  appanage  of  opulence  and 
luxury,  but  to  subserve  the  culture  and  enjoyment  of 
the  many.  "Art  will  not  grow  and  flourish,  nay,  it 
will  not  long  exist,  unless  it  be  shared  by  all  people; 
and  for  my  part  I  don't  wish  that  it  should,"  wrote 
William  Morris. 

The  sentiment  of  service  is  becoming  far  more  than 
a  sentiment;  it  is  triumphantly  working  out  itself  in 
every  sphere  as  the  regnant  principle;  and  in  the  ob- 
scure chamber  where  the  Divine  Man  girded  Himself 
for  the  lowliest  duty  we  find  the  fountain-head  of  that 
pure  river  of  water  of  life  which  is  making  the  arid 
wilderness  of  selfishness  to  blossom  as  the  rose. 

2.  The  solidarity  of  all  true  service  is  another  great 
truth  made  manifest  by  revelation,  and  specially  em- 
phasized by  our  Lord. 

How  often  when  our  heart  prompts  an  act  of  sacri- 
fice are  we  liable  to  paralyzing  discouragement  by  the 
thought  of  the  insignificance  of  what  we  can  give  or 

*  The  Life  of  Pasteur,  by  Vallery-Radot ;  trans,  of  Mrs.  Dev- 
onshire, vol.  ii.,  p.  297. 


196  THE  KOYALTY  OF  SERVICE 

do!  If  we  could  effect  something  of  magnitude,  it 
would  'be  worth  while;  but  what  is  possible  to  us  is 
so  inconsiderable  that  it  seems  of  little  consequence 
whether  it  is  done  or  not.  Science  and  revelation, 
however,  combine  to  shed  a  welcome  light  on  this  per- 
plexity. Professor  J.  A.  Thomson  reminds  his  readers 
that  "  one  of  the  most  important  indirect  results  of 
Darwinism  has  been  to  convince  naturalists  that  no 
fact  of  life  is  trivial.  What  once  would  have  been 
regarded  by  naturalists  as  a  trivial  thing  is  seen  to  be 
of  fundamental  importance."  *  Modern  science  often 
furnishes  the  screen  and  limelight  to  render  vivid  the 
truths  of  the  moral  universe,  and  it  does  so  when  it 
affirms  that  no  fact  of  life  may  be  accounted  trivial. 
Nearly  two  thousand  years  ago  our  Lord  made  this 
truth  clear  so  far  as  it  concerns  spiritual  and  moral 
service.  Rarely,  if  ever,  does  He  speak  of  magnificent 
sacrifices  on  behalf  of  His  kingdom;  but  the  smallest 
offering,  the  slenderest  service,  calls  forth  His  warm- 
est appreciation.  The  alabaster  box  of  ointment  was 
only  relatively  precious,  yet  how  He  magnified  it! 
"  Verily  I  say  unto  you.  Wheresoever  this  gospel  shall 
be  preached  throughout  the  whole  world,  this  also  that 
she  has  done  shall  be  spoken  of  for  a  memorial  of  her  " 
(Matt  26:  13).  The  beneficence  of  the  Good  Samar- 
itan was  not  specially  costly.  "And  on  the  morrow 
he  took  out  two  pence,  and  gave  them  to  the  host " 
(Luke  10:  35) — a  contribution  that  in  modern  times 
would  have  been  acknowledged  under  the  head  of 
"  small  sums."  The  widow  who  cast  "  two  mites  " 
into  the  treasury  is  immortalized ;  whilst  "  the  cup  of 
cold  water  "  given  in  His  name  glows  in  the  eyes  of 
men  and  angels  beyond  all  the  golden  goblets  of  kings. 
^Biology  of  the  Seasons. 


THE  ROYALTY  OF  SERVICE  197 

And  all  this  in  an  age  when  the  minute  was  despised, 
when  nothing  was  considered  worthy  of  notice  except 
as  it  was  immense,  spectacular,  imperial,  historic! 
"  Nothing  but  the  very  minute  seems  worthy  of  the 
attention  of  the  modern  school,"  writes  Leonard  Hux- 
ley. How  modern  Jesus  Christ  was  I  He  clearly  saw 
in  the  higher  realm  what  it  has  taken  genius  ages  to 
discover  in  the  lower.  He  understood  that  no  deed  of 
faith  and  love  is  trivial,  but  of  fundamental  impor- 
tance, and  He  desires  His  disciples  to  keep  that  truth 
in  constant  remembrance.  The  little  acts  of  kindness 
constitute  the  major  part  of  the  charity  of  the  world, 
and  what  an  impulse  to  such  acts  has  been  given  by 
the  teaching  and  example  of  our  Lord ! 

The  servant  of  humanity  is  liable  to  be  chilled  by 
the  sense  of  loneliness.  He  judges  himself  to  be  iso- 
lated; he  is  disheartened  because  his  endeavors  lack 
continuity  and  seem  fragmentary ;  whatever  he  may  be 
able  to  do  appears  unrelated  to  any  general  system  and 
sustained  movement.  Such  a  sense  of  piecemeal  en- 
deavor is  a  great  trial  to  faith  and  patience.  Yet  here 
again  the  science  that  God  has  appointed  as  a  helpmeet 
for  His  Church  may  once  more  assist  us.  As  Professor 
Thomson  states  it,  "  It  was  part  of  Darwin's  genius 
that  he  realized,  more  than  any  other,  the  solidarity  of 
Nature  and  the  interrelation  of  things.  .  .  .  He 
disclosed  a  system  of  Nature,  a  web  of  life,  in  which 
even  the  apparently  trivial  fact  is  invested  with  mo- 
mentous importance  because  of  its  complex  correla- 
tions with  others."*  Has  not  the  New  Testament 
rendered  us  in  another  sphere  the  service  that  the 
modem  scientist  has  rendered  in  the  natural  sphere? 
"  I  sent  you  to  reap  that  whereon  ye  have  not  labored: 
*  Biology  of  the  Seasons, 


198  THE  EOYALTY  OF  SEKVICE 

others  have  labored,  and  ye  are  entered  into  their  la- 
bor." "  One  soweth,  and  another  reapeth/'  "  He 
that  reapeth  receiveth  wages,  and  gathereth  fruit  unto 
life  eternal;  that  he  that  soweth  and  he  that  reapeth 
may  rejoice  together  "  (John  4:  36,  38).  Once  again, 
how  modern  our  Lord  is!  He  distinctly  understood 
the  solidarity  of  His  kingdom  and  the  interrelation  of 
all  service  and  sacrifice  on  its  behalf.  He  disclosed  a 
system  of  humanitarian  action,  a  web  of  life,  in  which 
each  small  endeavor  is  invested  with  momentous  im- 
portance because  of  its  relation  to  the  work  and  work- 
ers of  all  localities,  methods,  and  ages. 

Of  the  marvellous  manner  in  which  one  worker  for 
truth  and  humanity  affects  another  and  far-removed 
worker,  Edmund  Gosse  gives  a  striking  example.  In 
1615  a  semi-Nonconformist  Puritan  divine,  named 
Daniel  Dyke,  minister  of  Coggeshall,  in  Essex,  pub- 
lished a  work  entitled  The  Mystery  of  Self -Deceiving, 
which  was  translated  obscurely  into  French,  and  of 
which  La  Rochefoucauld  made  use  in  the  fashioning 
of  his  famous  Maximes.  Gosse  may  well  remark,  "  It 
is  certainly  an  amazing  thing  to  find  that  this  clumsy 
old  treatise  of  English  divinity  was  apparently  pos- 
sessed as  a  treasure  by  the  most  elegant  and  the  most 
sceptical  of  Frenchmen." '  The  subtle  interlinkings 
of  Nature  are  not  more  marvellous  than  the  interac- 
tions of  thought  and  endeavor  in  the  intellectual  and 
religious  worlds.  Little  did  the  old  Puritan  foresee 
the  destination  and  effect  of  his  treatise,  and  just  as 
little  does  any  servant  of  God  and  humanity  under- 
stand the  range  and  measure  of  his  influence. 

Opportunity,  resource,  life  itself,  so  soon  end,  that 
interest  may  well  flag  in  work  we  cannot  hope  to  com- 
^  Three  French  Moralists,  p.  28. 


THE  EOYALTY  OF  SEKYICE  199 

plete ;  but  the  consciousness  of  the  continuity  of  work 
and  the  permanence  of  its  results  quiet  and  calm  us. 
We  need  not  hurry  over  anything.  "  One  generation 
shall  praise  Thy  works  to  another,"  exults  the  psalm- 
ist. And  the  writer  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
grasps  the  truth  in  its  widest  application  when  he  dis- 
closes the  intimate  relationship  existing  between  the 
heroes  of  ancient  Israel  and  their  Christian  posterity. 
"And  these  all  .  .  .  received  not  the  promise, 
God  having  provided  some  better  thing  concerning  us, 
that  apart  from  us  they  should  not  be  made  perfect " 
( 11 :  39,  40) .  The  work  of  the  first  generation  is  con- 
tinued by  intermediate  generations,  and  completed  by 
the  latest.  The  recollection  of  this  unbroken  continu- 
ity ought  to  comfort  our  heart  and  kindle  our  enthu- 
siasm. John  Stuart  Mill  and  Roebuck  when  young 
were  great  walkers,  and  on  their  country  excursions 
Mill  would  fill  his  pockets  with  sweet  violet  seed  and 
scatter  it  in  the  hedges  as  he  went  along.  Practically 
a  century  has  elapsed  since  that  sowing,  and  very  likely 
the  posterity  of  the  pleasant  plants  still  survives,  de- 
lighting the  eye  with  its  purple,  scenting  the  air  with 
its  fragrance.  So  the  germs  of  beauty  and  blessing 
that  we  sow  by  the  wayside  as  we  trudge  along  will 
spring  up  to  inspire  joy  and  hope  in  the  pilgrims  who 
follow  us  long  after  we  sleep  under  the  grass.  No 
true  worker  is  insulated,  no  real  service  a  disjointed 
endeavor.  The  Lord  of  the  Church  inspires,  controls, 
and  harmonizes  the  labors  of  millions  of  His  self-sac- 
rificing servants  to  one  sublime  end.  The  unity  of 
Nature  is  not  a  more  assured  truth  than  is  the  unity  of 
all  noble  workers,  as  revealed  in  results  enduring  and 
glorious,  and  justifying  the  whole  intricate  and  costly 
process. 


200  THE  KOYALTY  OF  SEKYICE 

3.  The  sue  cess  fulness  of  faithful  service  is  guaran- 
teed by  revelation.  After  what  has  been  already  said, 
few  words  may  suffice  on  this  point.  Much  that  we 
attempt  seems  to  fail;  it  appears  as  if  thought,  time, 
money,  toil,  were  thrown  away,  and  many  conclude 
that  they  are.  The  natural  result  of  this  apparent 
abortiveness  is  that  we  become  discouraged.  If  zeal 
is  to  be  maintained,  we  must  be  cheered  in  our  work  by 
the  belief  of  the  certainty  at  which  we  aim.  "  Noth- 
ing," writes  Dugald  Stewart,  "  tends  so  much  to  call 
forth  the  exertions  of  individuals  in  the  public  service 
as  a  prevailing  belief  in  the  success  of  those  efforts 
which  they  put  forth  to  inform  and  bless  mankind." 
It  is  a  great  consolation  to  know  that  never  once  does 
our  Lord  hint  at  such  a  thing  as  unsuccess fulness  in 
noble  work,  although  His  own  career  would  have 
seemed  to  suggest  pessimistic  reflections.  Just  as  His 
graces  outshine  those  of  the  chiefest  of  saints,  so  does 
His  faith  in  the  power  of  His  truth,  the  virtue  of  His 
sacrifice,  and  the  triumph  of  His  kingdom,  transcend 
in  its  mighty  grasp,  its  untroubled  calm,  its  conquering 
energy,  the  faith  of  the  greatest  heroes  and  martyrs. 
The  thought  of  failure  in  sacrificial  work  is  utterly 
abhorrent  to  the  genius  of  the  Christian  faith;  such 
fear  is  the  most  malignant  form  of  heresy.  That  all 
sincere  faith  and  effort  sooner  or  later  flower  into 
something  beautiful  is  no  fancy,  but  a  fundamental 
truth  established  by  Jesus  Christ. 

Our  Lord  set  the  service  of  humanity  in  a  wholly 
new  light,  and  with  commanding  authority.  He 
showed  that  the  love  of  our  neighbor  was  a  sovereign 
principle  and  readiness  to  help  a  primal  duty.  He  en- 
joined the  doing  of  good  as  a  law  of  His  kingdom; 
He  set  the  supreme  example  of  sacrifice;  by  His  Spirit 


THE  KOYALTY  OF  SEKVICE  201 

He  breathes  into  the  heart  of  His  disciples  that  fervor 
of  love  that  is  the  grand  dynamic  of  philanthropy.  In 
a  word,  the  advent  of  our  Lord  redeemed  the  service 
of  humanity  from  action  which  is  merely  casual,  the 
response  to  a  passing  impulse,  to  make  of  it  a  law,  a 
science,  a  foremost  obligation,  a  master-passion,  a  pure 
delight.  He  restored  a  chaos  to  order,  beauty,  music. 
Where  is  charity  understood,  seen,  reverenced,  prac- 
tised, as  in  the  Church  of  God? 

We  cannot  neglect  this  social  duty  without  serious 
detriment  to  our  own  personality  and  happiness.  To 
be  faithless  to  the  generous  instinct,  to  surrender  our- 
selves to  habits  of  ease  and  indulgence,  to  leave  society 
to  get  on  as  best  it  may  whilst  we  gratify  selfish  tastes 
and  ambitions,  means  the  denial  of  the  souFs  peace  and 
the  decay  of  our  noblest  faculties.  A  recent  writer 
has  reminded  us  of  the  fate  of  Paganini's  magic  violin, 
which  was  left  to  his  native  city  of  Genoa  on  condition 
that  henceforth  it  should  not  be  played  upon — a  fatal 
request,  it  would  seem,  for  a  peculiarity  of  wood  is 
that  as  long  as  it  is  handled  and  used  it  lives,  and  wears 
but  slightly ;  it  is,  however,  no  sooner  laid  aside  than  it 
begins  to  decay,  and  becomes  the  prey  of  insects. 
"  This  magic  violin,  which  might  have  thrilled  the 
world  for  hundreds  of  years  to  come  with  its  heart- 
searching  tone,  is  becoming  worm-eaten  in  its  grand 
glass  case,  and  will  soon  be  a  little  heap  of  worthless 
dust."  The  mouldering  instrument  is  a  figure  of  the 
selfish  soul,  of  the  life  withdrawn  from  society  in  the 
interests  of  personal  leisure  and  indulgence.  No 
longer  exercised  to  ends  of  service  and  sacrifice,  the 
integrity  and  glory  of  our  nature  suffer ;  the  expansive, 
uplifting,  refining,  tonic  forces  are  lost,  and  the  music 
ceases  with  disuse.     The  social  element  cannot  be  de- 


202  THE  KOYALTY  OF  SERVICE 

nied  with  impunity;  it  is  the  condition  alike  of  personal 
joy  and  of  the  general  welfare,  at  once  the  root  and 
flower  of  civilization. 

How  deep,  pure,  and  serene  is  the  heart  at  leisure 
from  itself,  and  watchful  for  the  opportunity  to  serve ! 
The  sadness  of  life  would  at  once  be  softened  if  this 
were  better  understood.  Despite  all  the  sorrow  of 
His  lot,  how  profound  was  the  peace  of  our  Master, 
how  intense  His  joy !  And  the  secret  of  His  sublime 
experience  was  found  in  the  love  He  bore  us,  con- 
straining Him  to  fill  His  days  with  words  of  grace  and 
deeds  of  mercy;  His  passionate  unselfishness  rendered 
Him  insensible  to  His  cruel  environment.  So  with  the 
primitive  saints.  Throughout  the  Epistles  rings  the 
note  of  triumph;  one  might  think  the  pathway  of  the 
disciple  had  been  one  of  primroses,  but  the  severity  of 
the  times  was  largely  forgotten  in  the  exultation  of 
the  soul.  A  traveller  tells  how  a  fall  of  snow  hap- 
pened on  a  sunny  day  in  Spain,  adding,  "  But  when  we 
put  up  our  hands  to  catch  a  flake  it  became  only  a  tear, 
almost  ere  it  touched  the  flesh."  So  lightly  did  the 
afflictions  of  the  present  time  affect  the  apostles  and 
their  brethren,  and  this  to  a  large  extent  because 
their  glowing  enthusiasm  of  humanity  made  them 
unconscious  of  their  tragic  condition.  A  Student 
in  Arms  in  our  own  day  has  just  told  us  how  the 
soldier  fresh  to  the  field  of  war  forgot  all  fear,  discon- 
tent, and  suffering  so  soon  as  he  awoke  to  the  claims  of 
his  comrades,  in  thought  for  his  battalion,  in  minister- 
ing to  his  company.  Let  us  hasten  to  learn  the  great 
lesson  our  Lord  came  from  heaven  to  teach ! 


XV 
THE   RETARDED   TRIUMPH 

Thus  saith  the  Lord:  Refrain  thy  voice  from  weeping,  and 
thine  eyes  from  tears:  for  thy  work  shall  be  rewarded,  saith  the 
Lord;  and  they  shall  come  again  from  the  land  of  the  enemy. — 
Jeremiah  31 :  16. 

JEREMIAH  anticipates  the  return  of  his  country- 
men from  the  captivity  of  Assyria  and  Chaldea. 
The  period  of  the  Exile  was  a  time  of  suspense 
and  suffering,  and  their  protracted  sorrow  had  brought 
many  of  the  captives  to  the  border  of  despair.  The 
prophet  assures  them  that  however  unHkely  their  res- 
toration may  seem  it  will  nevertheless  come  to  pass. 
None  who  believed  in  that  return,  who  prayed  and 
worked  towards  it,  were  to  permit  themselves  to  be  dis- 
couraged. However  long  might  be  the  delay,  however 
hopeless  might  seem  the  event,  the  remnant  were  to 
remain  confident  in  the  darkest  day,  believing,  praying, 
working,  looking  for  the  dawn.  The  Evangelical 
Church  of  to-day  is  in  a  position  corresponding  to  that 
of  these  patriotic  Jews.  Our  race  is  exiled;  it  bleeds 
beneath  an  iron  tyranny  in  a  far  country,  and  nothing 
at  times  seems  more  incredible  than  its  restoration  to 
true  liberty,  and  the  glory  and  joy  which  liberty  makes 
possible.  But  we  are  encouraged  not  to  lose  faith  and 
hope.  Many  of  our  most  energetic  efforts  to  hasten  a 
better  state  of  things  appear  to  fail,  or  only  partially 
to  succeed,  and  often  it  is  difficult  to  refrain  our  voice 
from  weeping  and  our  eyes  from  tears.  But  what  I 
now  wish  to  suggest  is,  that  no  work  done  for  our  gen- 
eration can  be  in  vain,  that  no  magnanimous  effort  is 
ever  really  lost,  and  that  most  blessed  results  are  often 

203 


204  THE  RETARDED  TRIUMPH 

attained  as  the  ultimate  result  of  temporary  disap- 
pointments. To-day  it  is  our  joy  to  hear  a  heavenly 
voice  saying,  ''Thy  work  shall  be  rewarded,  saith  the 
Lord;  and  they  shall  come  again  from  the  land  of  the 
enemy."  We  too  shall  hail  the  end  of  exile.  Our 
tents  shall  be  built,  our  palaces  remain,  *'And  out  of 
them  shall  proceed  thanksgiving  and  the  voice  of  them 
that  make  merry;  and  I  will  multiply  them,  and  they 
shall  not  be  few;  I  will  also  glorify  them,  and  they 
shall  not  be  small  '*  (Jer.  30:  19). 

Let  us,  then,  proceed  to  give  some  reasons  why  we 
should  continue  to  hope  for  the  best  even  in  times  of 
bitterest  delay  and  disappointment. 

L  Disappointment  is  often  a  prelude  to  the  attain- 
ment of  results  ardently  desired.  A  wide  view  of  na- 
ture and  history  renders  us  conscious  of  this  law,  for 
such  it  may  be  called.  And  it  is  most  important  that 
we  sometimes  take  the  larger  view  of  things,  although 
congregations  are  apt  to  be  impatient  of  general  con- 
siderations. Yet  many  of  our  errors  and  anxieties 
arise  from  partial  views.  Professor  Bonney,  the  geol- 
ogist, writes:  "Hypotheses  founded  on  experience  re- 
stricted to  one's  own  back  garden  are  as  mischievous 
in  science  as  they  are  in  politics.'*  This  error  may 
mar  our  consideration  of  religious  questions,  making 
us  the  prey  of  painful  thoughts  and  dismal  fears  in 
consequence  of  the  restricted  view.  Fixing  our  atten- 
tion on  the  local  and  temporary,  on  incidental,  isolated 
happenings  which  are  vexatious  and  disheartening,  we 
are  almost  paralyzed;  when,  if  we  would  only  look 
over  the  back  garden  wall  into  the  big  world  and  the 
long  ages,  look  to  the  universal  or  general,  to  the  whole 
of  things,  the  reality  of  things,  we  should  be  reassured 
and  comforted. 


THE  RETAKDED  TRIUMPH  205 

1.  A  superficial  view  of  Nature  might  lead  us  to 
regard  the  world  as  little  else  than  a  past  scene  of  fail- 
ure and  waste,  whilst  deeper  reflection  will  satisfy  us 
that  the  divine  end  contemplated  is  unerringly  reached. 
The  sunshine  of  the  geological  ages  might  seem  lost; 
yet  treasured  up  in  the  depths  of  the  earth  it  supplies 
the  modern  world  with  light,  warmth,  power,  and 
beauty.  We  might  easily  infer  that  a  similar  waste  is 
taking  place  now  with  the  sunshine.  By  far  the 
greater  part  of  the  sun's  outlay  of  light  and  heat  ap- 
pears to  be  lost  in  the  depths  of  space.  The  earth 
catches  only  the  merest  fraction.  The  planets  and 
moon  also  intercept  a  trifle,  but  how  small  the  portion 
of  the  mighty  flood  they  can  utilize !  The  rain  seems 
wasted  on  salt  seas  and  barren  deserts.  The  forests 
teem  with  spores,  seeds,  germs,  over  and  above  what 
can  possibly  mature.  The  earth  and  water  swarm 
with  abortive  life.  The  fragrance  of  millions  of 
lovely  flowers  sweetens  the  unbreathed  air.  In  every 
direction  we  witness  what  are  commonly  construed  as 
signs  of  waste  and  failure;  yet  science  will  hear  of  no 
such  a  thing;  it  assures  us  that  a  law  of  parsimony 
runs  through  every  domain  of  Nature,  a  law  of  con- 
servation of  material  and  energy  that  forbids  any 
waste  of  either.  In  the  great  festivals  of  Nature 
twelve  baskets  are  always  reserved  in  the  rear  to  gather 
the  surplus;  and  when  the  lean  years  threaten,  the 
economized  treasures  of  matter  and  energy  are  forth- 
coming to  sustain  and  complete  the  life  of  the  world. 
The  profoundest  student  cannot  trace  all  the  workings 
of  the  combined  laws  of  lavishment  and  economy ;  but 
that  both  exist  he  is  confident,  and  he  is  as  certain  of 
the  one  as  of  the  other. 

We   cannot  look  upon   Nature   without   learning 


206  THE  EETAEDED  TKIUMPH 

afresh  the  fact  that  beneath  seeming  abortiveness  the 
grand  ends  of  the  Creator  are  steadily  worked  out. 
Amid  apparent  misdirection,  retrogression,  malversa- 
tion, and  disaster,  Nature  arrives.  Do  not  say  that 
you  do  not  particularly  care  for  this  kind  of  argument. 
Religious  people  are  guilty  of  serious  error  in  handing 
Nature  over  to  materialists,  and  depriving  themselves 
of  some  of  her  highest  teachings.  Isaiah  did  care  for 
this  kind  of  argument;  he  saw  in  the  visible  world  a 
parable  of  the  invisible,  and  with  what  convincing  as- 
surance he  gloried  in  the  doctrine  of  the  Lord !  "  For 
as  the  rain  cometh  down  and  the  snow  from  heaven, 
and  returneth  not  thither,  but  watereth  the  earth,  and 
maketh  it  bring  forth  and  bud,  and  giveth  seed  to  the 
sower  and  bread  to  the  eater,  so  shall  My  word  be  that 
goeth  forth  out  of  My  mouth:  it  shall  not  return  unto 
Me  void,  but  it  shall  accomplish  that  which  I  please, 
and  it  shall  prosper  in  the  thing  whereto  I  sent  it " 
(55:  10,  11).  It  is  good  to  detect  natural  law  in  the 
spiritual  world,  and  again  to  find  spiritual  law  in  the 
natural  world.  No  passage  in  the  whole  of  revelation 
has  given  more  comfort  and  courage  to  sorely  tried 
workers  for  God  than  this  passage  from  Isaiah.  As 
certainly  as  God's  will  is  realized  in  Nature  through 
endless  disguises,  delays,  reactions,  and  collapses,  so 
certainly  In  the  moral  world  shall  the  work  of  faith 
and  labor  of  love  bring  forth  the  golden  harvest, 
despite  all  eclipses,  droughts,  tempests,  locusts,  and 
caterpillars. 

2.  History  shows  the  considerable  extent  to  which 
our  intellectual  and  social  progress  is  achieved  under 
discouraging  aspects.  The  general  opinion  is  that  we 
owe  everything  to  the  few  brilliant  individuals  who 
notoriously  succeed  in  the  pursuits  with  which  they  are 


THE  KETARDED  TEIUMPH  207 

identified,  forgetting  the  scores  of  obscure  workers 
who  were  accounted  more  or  less  failures.  The  names 
of  those  who  do  "  not  come  off  "  are  almost  or  entirely 
unknown ;  poets  do  not  sing  them,  historians  pass  them 
by,  and  no  monument  perpetuates  their  memory.  And 
yet  how  immense  our  debt  to  these  obscure  workers! 
If  these  heroes  had  not  fought  and  fallen,  these  re- 
formers been  pelted  by  scorn  bitterer  than  stones,  these 
actors  been  hissed  off  the  stage;  if  these  adventurers 
had  not  perished  in  snows  or  jungles,  these  inventors 
not  constructed  the  imperfect  machines  at  which  their 
generation  scoffed,  or  these  pioneers  of  industry  not 
ventured  on  the  speculation  which  landed  them  in 
bankruptcy,  the  victorious  man  and  the  triumphant 
movement  would  have  been  impossible.  "  In  a  super- 
ficial review  of  the  history  of  science  a  new  idea  or  a 
striking  experiment  is  associated  with  an  individual 
name  and  a  particular  date.  Hence  we  receive  a  gen- 
eral impression  that  science  proceeds  by  sudden  in- 
spirations ;  yet,  on  closer  examination,  we  find  that  the 
salient  features  are  connected  with  each  other,  and  that 
the  great  landmarks  are  generally  reached  only  by  a 
succession  of  intermediate  steps,  some  of  which  may 
be  as  important  as  the  last  which  culminates  in  the  final 
discovery.  Time  tends  to  efface  the  intermediate 
steps,  so  it  is  difficult  to  obtain  a  correct  view  of  the 
continuity  of  science." ' 

To  the  men  who  took  the  intermediate  steps  which 
time  tends  to  efface  we  are  deeply  indebted,  as  well  as 
to  the  famous  names  that  at  last  blaze  out,  for  these 
latter  profited  largely  by  the  defective  thoughts  and  in- 
effectual strivings  of  their  inglorious  predecessors. 
Sir  J.  D.  Hooker,  speaking  of  Darwin,  said,  "  What 
*  Schuster  and  Shipley,  Britain's  Heritage  of  Science. 


208  THE  KETAKDED  TRIUMPH 

appeared  to  me  to  be  one  of  the  most  remarkable  traits 
in  his  character  was  his  power  of  turning  to  account 
the  waste  observations,  failures,  and  even  blunders  of 
his  predecessors  in  whatever  subject  of  inquiry.  It 
was  this  power  of  utilizing  the  vain  efforts  of  others 
which,  in  my  friend  Sir  James  Paget's  opinion,  affords 
the  best  evidence  of  Darwin's  genius."  It  is  ever  thus. 
The  interval  between  great  discoveries  is  full  of  the 
records  of  earnest  men  attacking  dark  problems,  on  va- 
rious lines  attempting  their  solution,  and  yet  passing 
away  without  achieving  success;  it  is  this  fact  that 
imparts  deep  pathos  to  the  story  of  intellectual  prog- 
ress. After  a  succession  of  these  unfortunate  seekers 
after  truth,  the  genius  ultimately  arrives,  who,  in- 
structed by  the  false  or  faltering  experiments  of 
others,  perceives  the  way  he  ought  to  go,  greatly  helped 
by  those  who  showed  him  the  way  he  ought  not  to  go. 
The  whole  path  of  progress  is  littered  with  the  ruins 
of  accounted  failure,  and  yet  it  was  the  path  of  prog- 
ress. What  we  owe  to  honest,  self-sacrificing,  heroic, 
meritorious,  yet  defeated  endeavor,  is  the  unknown 
sublime  of  history.  A  recent  traveller  in  the  Desert 
of  Cathay  writes:  "The  tracks  of  wayfarers  get  ef- 
faced, and  many  among  them  lose  their  way.  On 
every  side  there  extends  a  vast  space  with  nothing  to 
go  by;  so  travellers  pile  up  the  bones  left  behind  to 
serve  as  road-marks."  Ah,  pile  up  bones !  To  a  large 
extent  in  the  march  of  civilization  we  are  guided  by  the 
wreck  and  ruin  of  earnest  pathfinders  who  went  before 
us;  we  are  furthered  by  their  privations,  sufferings, 
and  death.  The  bones  of  the  martyrs  of  science,  of 
politics,  of  commerce,  are  our  road-marks ;  but  none  of 
them  perished  in  vain;  by  their  courage  and  sacrifice 
we  are  put  on  the  track  of  the  promised  land.     If  strict 


THE  BETAEDED  TKIUMPH  209 

justice  were  meted  out  to  all,  many  in  the  inglorious 
crowd  of  the  unsuccessful  would  claim  a  big  share  in 
the  glory  of  their  more  lucky  peers. 

Even  when  history  records  the  dissolution  of  great 
nations,  it  also  suggests  that  apparent  failure  of  a 
capital  order  masks  real  and  even  triumphal  progress. 
What  an  infinity  of  noble  effort  and  costly  sacrifice  go 
to  the  elaboration  of  a  splendid  civilization!  Tens  of 
thousands  of  patriots  toil  and  bleed  to  build  up  a  nation 
in  wealth,  culture,  and  character,  and  then,  as  in  a 
day,  we  behold  that  nation  perish,  and  the  infinite  sac- 
rifice that  went  to  its  creation  seems  to  prove  absolutely 
in  vain,  to  be  irretrievably  lost.  But  further  consid- 
eration satisfies  us  that  it  is  not  so.  In  the  very  hour 
of  catastrophe,  when  all  seems  engulfed,  the  work  of 
generations  yields  a  more  glorious  fruitage.  Egypt 
and  its  mighty  neighbors  passed  suddenly  into  obliv- 
ion ;  but  in  their  arts,  architecture,  science,  and  wisdom 
they  left  a  heritage  to  mankind  far  grander  and  more 
enduring  than  their  pyramids.  When  Greece  perished 
as  a  nation,  it  scorned  its  old  boundaries,  becoming 
far  more  influential  than  before;  its  body  mouldered, 
but  its  soul  of  beauty  inspires  the  race.  With  the  fall 
of  Jerusalem  the  faith  of  the  Jew  became  the  gift  of 
the  Gentile,  who  is  making  of  the  wide  world  a  New 
Jerusalem.  When  Rome  ceased  to  exist  politically,  its 
genius  walked  abroad,  and  the  great  ideas  for  which  it 
stood  rule  a  vaster  empire  than  that  of  the  Caesars. 
When  mediaeval  Italy  became  a  geographical  expres- 
sion, its  intellectual  life  was  no  longer  circumscribed 
by  the  Mediterranean,  but  prevailed  throughout  Eu- 
rope, and  glows  now  beyond  the  Atlantic.  "  Verily, 
verily,  I  say  unto  you,  Except  a  grain  of  wheat  fall 
into  the  earth  and  die,  it  abideth  by  itself  alone ;  but  if 
it  die,^  it  beareth  much  frAiitJ'     History  shows  how 


210  THE  RETAEDED  TRIUMPH 

true  this  is  of  nations.  Having  fulfilled  their  destiny, 
they  transmit  to  posterity  for  larger  use  their  accumu- 
lated treasure  and  energy,  intellectual  and  moral.  As 
St.  Paul  divined  concerning  the  destruction  of  Juda- 
ism, "  Their  fall  is  the  riches  of  the  world,"  so  is  it 
with  every  vanishing  commonwealth.  We  cannot  sur- 
vey nature  and  history  without  the  cheering  conviction 
that,  however  it  may  be  explained,  errors  are  neutral- 
ized, waste  is  redeemed,  reaction  turns  out  only  a  form 
of  perseverance,  failure  becomes  construction,  and 
whatever  effort  is  directed  to  high  ends  proves  finally 
effectual. 

II.  //  the  greatest  results  in  the  lower  realm  are 
attained  as  by  a  law,  despite  disappointing  aspects,  the 
religious  worker,  seeking  to  establish  the  kingdom  of 
God,  may  be  reassured  in  the  midst  of  the  special  diffi- 
culties with  which  he  has  to  contend.  And  very  for- 
midable those  difficulties  are.  He  who  will  do  good  on 
the  lower  levels  and  design  only  modest  measures,  will 
need  faith  and  patience ;  but  he  who  brings  to  the  task 
high  ideals  must  be  prepared  for  endless  frustrations, 
delays,  and  failures.  How  confounding  and  tantaliz- 
ing noble  and  spiritual  work  appears  to  the  carnal  eye, 
is  well  shown  in  the  following  passage  from  the  writ- 
ings of  that  tranquil  cynic,  Anatole  France.  In  re- 
viewing a  book  entitled  Virtue  in  Prance,  a  work  con- 
taining many  examples  of  valor  and  charity,  the  critic 
proceeds:  "  Now  what  strikes  one  when  one  reads  the 
actions  of  these  men  who  devoted  themselves  to  death, 
is  the  sublime  powerlessness  of  their  courage,  the  un- 
deserved sterility  of  their  sacrifice.  Heroism  and  de- 
votion are  like  great  works  of  art — they  have  no  object 
beyond  themselves.  One  could  almost  say  that  their 
uselessness  makes  their  greatness.  Men  sacrifice  them- 
selves for  the  sake  of  sacrifice.     The  object  of  the 


THE  KETAHDED  TEIUMPH  211 

finest  sacrifices  is  often  unworthy;  sometimes  it  is 
nothing  at  all.  In  the  madness  of  a  species  of  sublime 
egoism,  charity  resembles  love.  Without  doubt  virtue 
is  a  force;  it  is  even  the  only  human  force.  But  its 
fatal  destiny  is  to  be  always  defeated.  It  gives  its 
soldiers  the  incomparable  beauty  that  belongs  to  the 
vanquished.  For  a  long  time  now,  virtue  has  been 
striking  formidable  blows  against  evil;  but  evil  is  im- 
mortal ;  it  laughs  at  our  blows."  ^ 

Happily  we  are  not  called  upon  to  acquiesce  in  the 
conclusions  of  this  eminent  man,  to  agree  with  what  is 
really  a  dirge  at  the  funeral  of  virtues  which  the  ages 
have  taught  us  to  count  sublime.  We  cannot  believe 
that  the  champions  of  humanity  who  displayed  this 
courage  and  made  these  sacrifices  did  so  in  vain ;  for  it 
is  indisputable  that  they  effectually  withstood  gigantic 
evils  which  oppressed  their  fellows.  It  is  impossible 
to  confound  deeds  like  the  abolition  of  slavery  with 
works  of  art.  Martyrs  and  missionaries  contemplated 
great  and  worthy  objects  in  submitting  themselves  to 
exile  and  death,  and  actually  they  have  not  the  beauty 
of  the  vanquished,  but  the  glory  of  the  victorious.  If 
the  conclusions  of  Anatole  France  were  accepted  to 
any  considerable  extent,  it  would  not  be  long  before  a 
cosmical  French  Revolution  would  conclude  the  whole 
tragedy.  Yet  the  passage  we  quote,  inspired  through- 
out by  the  atheistic  temper,  gives  a  vivid  view  of  the 
appearance  of  noble  work  to  the  carnal  eye.  The  most 
disinterested  sacrifices  seem  sterile,  the  rarest  courage 
powerless.  Heroism  and  devotion  appear  as  nothing 
more  than  fine  poetry  or  splendid  art;  the  costliest 
charity  a  mere  madness,  and  virtue  a  force  whose  fatal 
destiny  is  to  be  always  defeated.  The  blows  struck 
against  vice  are  formidable  and  continuous;  but  evil 
*Pn  Life  and  Letters,  First  Series,  p.  293. 


212  THE  RETAKDED  TRIUMPH 

laughs  at  such  blows,  and  evil  is  immortal.  It  must  be 
granted  that  to  the  superficial  view  this  estimate  of  the 
vanity  of  virtue,  of  charity,  and  of  sacrifice  has  much 
to  say  for  itself ;  there  are  hours,  too,  when  the  hearts 
of  the  most  devoted  servants  of  God  and  the  race  fail 
them,  hours  when  they  hardly  refrain  their  voice  from 
weeping  and  their  eyes  from  tears. 

1.  All  godly  workers  have  this  special  ground  of 
confidence,  that  the  establishment  of  the  kingdom  of 
God  is  the  one  divine  event  to  which  the  whole  creation 
moves.  Such  workers  are  not  active  in  a  cause  that 
may  or  may  not  be  a  subsidiary  part  of  the  general 
order  and  purpose  of  creation,  they  act  surely  and 
directly  to  the  supreme  end.  The  sovereignty  of  the 
world  is  mediatorial,  its  government  redemptive,  the 
end  of  all  things  the  recovery  of  a  lost  race  to  the 
knowledge,  love,  and  righteousness  of  God.  Ours  is 
not  a  side-show  in  the  great  theatre ;  it  is  the  supreme 
drama  itself.  It  is  only  necessary  to  read  the  third 
chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  to  understand 
that  the  final  purpose  of  the  Supreme  is  the  reconcilia- 
tion of  all  things  to  Himself  in  Christ  Jesus.  The  one 
simple  meaning  of  the  earth  is  the  glory  of  God  in 
the  salvation  of  the  race.  Herein  lies  the  grandeur 
of  the  gospel.  Herein  lies  the  warrant  of  Christian 
missions.  Herein  is  found  the  solid  ground  of  the 
Christian  hope  for  millennial  days.  Every  worker  for 
the  evangelization  of  mankind  ought  firmly  to  grasp 
this  sure  and  vital  truth ;  it  keeps  one  strong  and  steady 
amid  puzzling  fluctuations  and  distressing  reverses  and 
defeats.  Whatever  else  may  fail,  this  trust  of  ours 
in  the  Almighty  plan  and  purpose  cannot.  If  in  Na- 
ture the  elements  are  never  wasted,  but  to  the  utmost 
fulfil  their  mission,  how  much  rather  shall  the  light  of 
truth,  the  love  that  distils  as  the  gentle  dew,  the  power 


THE  RETARDED  TRroMPH  213 

that  works  within  us  mightily,  prevail  to  the  sublime 
end  to  which  they  are  sent?  If  the  material  and 
political  workers  for  society  counted  unsuccessful  are 
yet  its  benefactors,  how  much  more  are  the  broken- 
hearted soldiers  of  Christ  real  though  secret  conquer- 
ors? If  the  vain  striving  of  one  generation  in  things 
secular  is  brought  to  completion  by  the  next,  how 
much  more  the  spiritual  striving?  If  the  martyrs  of 
science,  industry,  and  patriotism  do  not  die  in  vain, 
is  it  not  still  more  sure  that  the  blood  of  the  spiritual 
martyrs  shall  prevail? 

2.  The  flowing  tide  of  the  divine  will  and  purpose 
steadily  hears  us  onward  to  the  glorious  goal,  zvhatever 
may  be  our  difficidties  and  disasters.  Ours  is  the  main 
current  of  the  cosmical  movement,  although  from  time 
to  time  it  presents  the  aspect  of  a  backwater.  We  are 
satisfied  that  God  is  with  us  despite  our  frailty  and 
failure.  A  breath  of  His  converts  our  impotent  efforts 
into  decisive  endeavors;  a  touch  of  His  converts  our 
blundering  essays  into  masterpieces ;  He  multiplies  the 
few  into  many,  and  makes  the  small  strong  as  the  angel 
of  Jehovah.  Behind  paltry  revenues,  frail  instru- 
ments, erring  agents,  the  divine  power  works  with 
irresistible  efficiency.  Not  only  so,  but  God  is  in  the 
midst  of  His  enemies,  confounding  their  counsels, 
thwarting  their  efforts,  laughing  to  scorn  their  malice. 
A  plan  has  been  recently  developed  by  the  municipali- 
ties of  the  Niagara  frontier  for  the  building  of  a  vast 
tunnel  to  provide  for  the  disposal  of  the  sewage  of  a 
large  city,  and  at  the  same  time  to  make  it  produce 
electric  power;  the  malodorous  refuse  will  first  light 
the  city,  and  the  remainder  will  be  converted  into  fer- 
tilizers to  enrich  and  beautify  the  landscape.  It  is  a 
parable  of  the  divine  government.  God  is  ever  bring- 
ing light  out  of  darkness,  beauty  out  of  rottenness, 


214  THE  KETAKDED  TKIUMPH 

good  out  of  evil.     He  makes  the  wrath  of  man  to 
praise  Him,  and  the  remainder  shall  He  restrain. 

Various  systems  and  movements  which  cause  us 
anxiety  sometimes  present  the  appearance  of  progress 
when  there  is  no  reality  of  progress,  for  they  are  con- 
trary to  the  great  tides  of  God's  purpose  and  operation. 
When  Parry  attempted  to  reach  the  North  Pole,  he 
discovered  that  the  ice-floes  on  which  he  was  journey- 
ing drifted  southward  faster  than  he  and  his  com- 
panions walked  north;  so  at  the  end  of  a  long  day's 
march  they  found  themselves  four  miles  farther  from 
their  destination  than  they  were  in  the  morning.  It  is 
sometimes  thus  with  systems,  institutions,  and  move- 
ments of  an  equivocal  character,  which  appear  to  ad- 
vance when  in  reality  they  do  nothing  of  the  sort.  It 
is  an  illusion;  they  move  in  the  wrong  direction,  the 
tide  is  against  them ;  they  are  making  northward  to  the 
realms  of  darkness  and  barrenness,  whilst  the  river  of 
God  sets  southward  to  the  lands  of  the  sun  and  sum- 
mer. Systems  of  scepticism  like  Voltairianism,  of 
superstition  like  Mohammedanism,  of  corrupt  ecclesi- 
asticism  like  Romanism,  may  seem  now  and  again  to 
advance ;  but  the  prevailing  currents  are  against  them, 
and  in  a  century  it  becomes  evident  that  they  are  far- 
ther from  their  goal  than  at  the  commencement.  If 
our  face  is  to  the  South,  if  we  strive  for  light,  right- 
eousness, purity,  and  peace,  for  the  bringing  in  of  the 
kingdom  of  God,  the  mighty  tide  is  with  us,  and,  not- 
withstanding the  agitations  and  eddies  of  the  moment, 
we  draw  nearer  the  golden  shore. 

Boundless  as  ocean's  tide, 

Rolling  in  fullest  pride 

Through  the  world  far  and  wide, 

the  Divine  Spirit  urges  forward  the  Ark  of  God  to  the 
haven  of  that  new  earth  for  which  we  sigh  and  prax« 


XVI 
THE  SNARE  OF  UNREALITY 

In  the  meantime  ,  ,  .  He  began  to  say  unto  His  disciples 
first  of  all,  Beware  ye  of  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees,  which  is 
hypocrisy.— hvKn  12:  i. 

WITH  the  exception  of  our  Lord's  parable, 
"leaven"  invariably  stands  in  the  gospel 
for  a  pernicious  element  or  quality,  and  in 
the  text  It  suggests  the  defect  of  the  Pharisaical  pro- 
fession and  character— the  Pharisee  was  a  hypocrite, 
an  actor.  Against  such  unreality  our  Lord  warns  us. 
Mark  the  urgency,  "  first  of  all."  He  assigns  the  pre- 
mier place  to  sincerity  in  whatever  concerns  the  re- 
ligious life,  nothing  true  and  abiding  can  be  reached 
without  It.  To  attain  to  right  belief,  to  enjoy  a  satis- 
fying experience,  to  achieve  worthy  character  and  the 
high  rewards  of  the  perfected  life,  our  belief  in  right- 
eousness must  be  sincere ;  we  must  honestly  strive  per- 
sonally to  become  righteous,  and  to  prove  in  practical 
life  our  integrity  by  living  righteously.  Affectation  of 
any  kind  is  wholly  alien  to  the  kingdom  of  God.  Our 
Lord  is  Himself  "  The  Truth,"  and  the  first  condition 
of  discipleship  is  that  we  trust  in  Him  and  follow  Him 
with  an  unfeigned  faith.  In  the  first  place,  then,  we 
inquire  wherein  this  unreality  consists;  and,  secondly, 
mark  the  signs  of  truthfulness  of  character. 

I.  ^  We  inquire  wherein  this  unreality  of  character 
consists.  What,  in  the  judgment  of  Jesus,  was  the 
essential  reality  of  character?  Does  He  not  state  this 
in  His^  conversation  with  the  Samaritan  woman? 
"God  is  a  Spirit;  and  they  that  worship  Him  must 
worship  in  spirit  and  truth  "  (John  4:  24).  Nothing 
is  real  to  Him,  nothing  acceptable,  that  is  not  of  the 

215 


216  THE  SNAKE  OF  UNKEALITY 

soul ;  the  true  worship,  the  true  virtue,  the  true  obedi- 
ence, are  prompted  by  intelligence,  reverence,  and  love ; 
and  whatever  does  not  partake  of  spiritual  feeling  and 
purpose  is  negligible  or  worse.  True  religion  from 
beginning  to  end  is  concerned  with  God — the  living, 
loving,  righteous  One  who  has  been  made  known  to 
us  in  Jesus  Christ.  The  whole  design  of  the  teaching 
of  our  Lord  was  to  bring  us  to  the  knowledge  of  God, 
to  restore  us  to  a  just  relation  to  Him,  to  awaken  in 
our  heart  a  passionate  love  of  Him,  to  strengthen  us 
that  we  might,  as  He  did,  fulfil  all  righteousness. 
Godliness  and  righteousness  are  of  the  very  essence  of 
Christian  doctrine,  its  law,  its  life,  its  glory.  The  true 
saint  lives  in  the  presence  of  God,  drawing  his  strength 
daily  from  Him,  seeking  in  all  things  to  please  Him, 
offering  all  his  works  to  Him,  and  finding  the  smile  of 
God  the  full  and  final  satisfaction  of  life.  Religion 
necessarily  has  its  shell,  but  its  kernel  is  its  spirituality. 

Exactly  at  this  point  we  come  upon  the  fatal  defect 
of  the  Pharisee,  upon  that  special  fault  which  laid 
him  open  to  such  severe  condemnation.  We  cannot 
read  what  our  Lord  has  to  say  about  the  sect  without 
being  aware  of  their  many  and  serious  vices ;  but  these, 
one  and  all,  are  to  be  traced  to  the  same  root,  their 
lack  of  faith  in  God  and  their  ignorance  of  His  right- 
eousness. Their  religiousness  was  personal,  social, 
ecclesiastical,  mechanical,  not  divine ;  in  a  word,  their 
goodness  was  no  longer  real ;  the  reality  had  gone  out 
of  it ;  it  had  become  a  superficial,  an  artificial,  a  false 
thing.  They  mimicked  sainthood ;  they  became  actors, 
hypocrites,  assuming  a  character  that  did  not  belong 
to  them. 

Let  us  study  them  more  closely.  In  his  defense  be- 
fore Agrippa,  St.  Paul  testified  that  before  his  conver- 


THE  SNAKE  OF  UNREALITY  217 

slon,  "  After  the  straitest  sect  of  our  religion  I  lived  a 
Pharisee"  (Acts  26:  5).  So  it  would  appear,  as  we 
might  readily  suppose,  that  there  existed  several  grades 
of  the  order,  some  more  lax,  others  more  austere.  Let 
us  consider  them  in  two  great  sections,  and  see  how 
they  merited  the  stigma  with  which  they  were  branded. 
Evidently  many  of  them  were  little  more  than  vulgar 
religious  impostors.  Whilst  maintaining  a  reputation 
for  orthodoxy  and  saintship,  their  conduct  was  grossly 
immoral;  they  were  dishonest,  avaricious,  impure,  op- 
pressive. They  were  deliberate  actors;  with  paste, 
paint,  and  powder  they  prepared  to  play  the  saint  on 
the  public  stage,  whilst  behind  the  curtain  they  were 
infamous.  I  remember  when  a  child  that  a  travelling 
theatre  visited  my  native  town,  and  with  wonder  and 
awe  I  watched  the  promenading  on  the  outside  stage 
— kings,  queens,  conquerors,  cardinals,  courtiers,  all 
arrayed  in  purple  and  cloth  of  gold,  decked  with  dia- 
dems, glittering  with  gems,  shining  in  the  colors  of 
the  rainbow ;  but  what  a  disenchantment  it  was  to  me 
to  recognize  a  few  days  later  Julius  Csesar  on  the 
dockside  carrying  deals!  Thus  these  pietists  con- 
ducted an  elaborate  masquerade;  tricked  out  in 
sacerdotal  raiment,  skilled  in  gesture,  loud  in  utter- 
ance, they  played  to  the  gallery,  whilst  utterly  devoid 
of  the  virtues  they  affected,  and  false  to  the  spirit  of 
the  part  they  aped. 

They  were  ostentatious  churchmen ;  but  their  elabor- 
ation and  obtrusion  of  the  ecclesiastical  did  not  mean 
increased  stringency  of  behavior,  a  more  austere  ideal 
of  character,  but,  on  the  contrary,  was  made  a  substi- 
tute for  personal  character,  a  disguise  for  moral  dis- 
grace. Far  from  all  this  was  the  teaching  of  our  Lord. 
The  preeminence  of  character  was  the  burden  of  His 


218  THE  SNAEE  OF  UNKEALITY 

ministry.  However  lofty  His  doctrine,  it  was  ever 
practical:  what  we  ought  to  be,  and  how  we  ought  to 
act,  even  in  the  homeliest  relations,  in  the  simplest 
duties,  in  the  lowliest  things.  Churchmanship  has  lit- 
tle place  in  His  instructions;  character  is  the  jewel, 
and  its  diamond-glory  His  constant  theme.  Alas, 
when  we  come  to  make  the  ecclesiastical  the  main 
question,  and  its  exaggeration  a  disguise  for  moral 
poverty  and  corruption !  At  certain  periods  of  our  na- 
tional history  ignorant  or  dishonest  rulers  tampered 
with  the  currency;  they  mixed  a  few  ounces  of  pure 
metal  with  abounding  alloy,  and  streams  of  base 
money  were  put  into  circulation.  Money-theorists 
were  at  hand  to  justify  the  fraud.  They  argued,  Why 
should  not  money  be  taken  as  it  is  proclaimed  ?  What 
if  it  were  copper?  What  if  it  were  lead  or  brass? 
What  if  it  were  leather?  Is  it  not  all  one,  seeing  it  is 
for  no  other  use  but  exchange?  When  the  king's 
stamp  was  on  the  coin,  it  should  be  received  of  every 
man  as  it  was  proclaimed.  But,  as  Froude  makes 
clear,  all  this  sophistry  proved  unavailing;  experience 
showed  that  good  and  bad  money,  though  stamped 
alike,  could  not  exist  together.  It  was  demonstrated 
that  the  coin  must  be  pure.  The  image  and  super- 
scription of  the  king  were  valid  and  accepted  only 
when  stamped  on  sterling  metal.  It  was  the  mission 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  to  make  manifest  that  no  conven- 
tional decree,  no  ecclesiastical  court,  no  theological 
sanction,  no  sacerdotal  mint  or  imprint,  can  endow 
base  character  with  value;  the  King's  image  is  legiti- 
mate only  when  stamped  on  gold — otherwise  the  di- 
vine name  is  profaned.  Churchmanship  minus  holi- 
ness of  spirit  and  deed  is  one  of  the  vainest  forms  of 
vanity.    Ecclesiastical  virtue  is  no  substitute  for  nat- 


THE  SNARE  OF  UNREALITY  219 

ural  virtue;  conventional  virtue  for  vital  virtue;  or 
verbal  virtue  for  that  which  is  practical.  These  Phari- 
sees were  theatrical;  they  professed  a  character  they 
did  not  exemplify,  in  which  they  did  not  believe. 

St.  Paul  is  an  example  of  the  better  class  of  these 
sectarians,  who  did  not,  like  their  coarser  brethren, 
substitute  rouge  for  righteousness.  They  were  men 
who  "  lived  in  all  good  conscience,"  who  "  concern- 
ing the  law  were  blameless  " ;  not  only  were  they  fault- 
less in  regard  to  the  Levitical  law,  but  no  doubt  many 
of  them  might  boast  with  the  rich  young  ruler  con- 
cerning the  precepts  of  the  moral  law  that  they  had 
observed  them  from  their  youth  upward.  The  de- 
scription that  the  apostle  gives  of  himself  as  a  Pharisee 
shows  how  excellent  and  zealous  these  men  might  be, 
and  undoubtedly  many  of  them  were.  And  yet  the 
warning  of  the  Lord  against  the  leaven  of  the  Phari- 
sees applies  also  to  them  of  the  better  class.  In  fact, 
our  Lord  never  distinguishes  in  His  denunciations  of 
this  sect  between  the  groups  composing  it;  they  were 
all  alike  in  the  fact  that  they  assumed  to  be  what  they 
were  not.  In  the  last  analysis  the  moral  Pharisee  was 
an  actor;  he  took  himself  to  be  other  than  he  was,  to 
be  far  more  than  he  was.  The  leaven  worked  so 
subtly  that  they  mistook  their  hollow  virtue  for  a  di- 
vine righteousness.  They  thought  the  whole  obliga- 
tion of  life  was  discharged  by  a  facile  compliance  with 
the  letter  of  the  law.  One  of  Michael  Angelo's  work- 
men employed  on  the  mausoleum  of  Julius  II.  thought 
that  he  had  become  a  great  sculptor  without  special 
effort,  because  by  implicitly  following  his  master*s 
instructions  he  had  produced  from  a  block  of  marble, 
to  his  astonishment,  a  beautiful  statue.  But  in  reality 
this  workman  was  no  sculptor  whilst  he  pursued  his 


220  THE  SNAKE  OF  UNREALITY 

task,  neither  was  he  one  when  he  had  finished  it. 
From  first  to  last  he  was  a  journeyman,  his  work  a 
matter  of  imitation  and  measurement,  not  a  gleam  of 
the  divine  spark.  It  is  the  same  in  ethics  as  in  artistry. 
The  pride  of  the  Pharisee  was  his  outward  compliance 
with  law  whilst  destitute  of  the  genius  of  righteousness 
— the  consent,  the  inspiration,  the  delight  of  a  pure 
heart.  The  Hebrew  moralist  was  no  more  a  righteous 
man  than  Angelo's  amateur  was  a  sculptor ;  they  alike 
followed  a  programme  that  concerned  only  the  sur- 
face of  things;  there  was  no  expression  of  the  inner 
Hfe.  In  neither  case  was  their  work  a  creation  of  the 
soul,  and  the  mechanical  compliance  with  precepts,  al- 
together lacking  in  inwardness  and  spontaneity,  was 
as  far  removed  from  genuine  art  and  righteousness  as 
the  screaming  phrases  of  a  caged  parrot  are  from  the 
skylark's  exuberant  music. 

Scientists,  in  treating  of  mimicry  in  the  animal 
world,  inform  us  that  however  close  may  be  the  re- 
semblance that  for  the  purpose  of  protection  one  crea- 
ture acquires  of  another,  the  imitation  is  external  and 
visible  only,  never  extending  to  internal  characters,  or 
to  such  as  do  not  affect  the  external  appearance.  The 
Pharisee  carried  the  art  of  mimicry  to  its  last  refine- 
ment; but  when  his  outward  aspect  most  nearly  re- 
flected the  saint,  the  imitation  never  extended  to  the 
internal  characters — the  pure  heart,  the  willing  mind, 
the  responsive  will,  the  obedient  spirit;  whatever  the 
visible  similarity,  the  answering  realities  of  the  soul 
were  absent.  Of  a  religion  of  truth,  justice,  and  love, 
of  faith  in  God  and  charity  to  man,  calling  out  all  the 
passion,  power,  and  poetry  of  our  nature,  these  men, 
obsessed  by  legalism  and  formalism,  knew  little. 
Hence  the  cutting  reproaches  with  which  our  Lord 


THE  SNAKE  OF  UNEEALITY  221 

visited  them.  The  making  clean  of  the  outside  of  the 
cup  and  platter,  the  washing  of  hands,  the  whited 
sepulchre  full  of  uncleanness,  were  figures  setting 
forth  the  contrast  between  their  saintly  pretensions, 
and  the  unpurged  passions,  the  unregenerate  will,  the 
insincerities  and  dishonesties  of  their  secret  life. 

It  is  being  constantly  objected.  If  the  life  is  in  agree- 
ment with  the  letter  of  the  law,  if  practically  men  are 
blameless,  why  insist  on  these  mystical  conditions? 
"  He  can't  be  wrong  whose  life  is  in  the  right."  But 
how  does  this  kind  of  talk  sound  when  applied  to  art? 
Are  we  prepared  to  say  that  the  poet  cannot  be  wrong 
if  his  metre  is  right,  or  the  painter  if  his  drawing  is 
right,  or  the  sculptor  if  his  measurements  are  right, 
or  the  musician  if  his  time  is  right?  We  never  argue 
so.  However  correct  they  may  be  technically,  we  can- 
not tolerate  a  wooden  actor,  a  formal  artist,  a  frigid 
poet,  or  a  mechanical  minstrel;  the  unpardonable  sin 
in  the  world  of  art  is  soullessness.  This  was  the  defect 
of  the  Pharisee  that  evoked  the  displeasure  of  the 
Lord ;  his  religion  was  soulless.  Vinet,  in  pointing  out 
defects  of  Voltaire's  poetry,  remarks,  "  Counterfeit 
enthusiasm  gives  counterfeit  poetry,  and  Voltaire 
never  rose  to  enthusiasm — a  contemplation  simple, 
full,  and  ravishing,  the  most  noble  condition  in  which 
the  human  soul  can  be  found."  This  was  the  defect 
of  the  Pharisee  on  the  religious  side.  He  never  rose 
to  the  most  noble  condition  in  which  the  human  soul 
can  be  found,  that  of  spiritual  admiration,  love,  and 
delight;  his  religion  did  not  go  beyond  tradition,  cal- 
culation, form;  and  his  counterfeit  enthusiasm  pro- 
duced counterfeit  worship,  morality,  and  philanthropy, 
counterfeit  everything.  If  cold  correctness  is  intoler- 
able to  us,  how  abhorrent  must  be  the  worship  and 


222  THE  SNARE  OF  UNREALITY  . 

virtue  that  have  in  them  no  breath  of  life,  no  heart- 
throb, to  Him  who  knows  all  being  and  action  in  their 
essence,  and  whose  first  and  supreme  demand  upon 
the  creature  is,  "  My  son,  give  Me  thy  heart " ! 

The  final,  decisive  proof  of  the  falsity  of  the  Phari- 
see was  his  rejection  of  our  Lord.  Had  he  known  the 
beauty  of  holiness,  he  would  not  have  been  blind  to 
the  glory  of  Messiah ;  but  when  he  saw  Him,  "  there 
was  no  beauty  that  he  should  desire  Him."  Had  he 
been  of  the  truth,  he  would  have  recognized  incarnate 
Truth.  "  To  this  end  am  I  come  into  the  world,  that 
I  should  bear  witness  unto  the  truth.  Every  one  that 
is  of  the  truth  heareth  my  voice"  (John  18:37). 
They  crucified  Him. 

They  will  not,  therefore  cannot,  do  not  know  Him. 
Nothing  they  could  know,  could  be  God.  In  sooth, 
Unto  the  true  alone  exists  the  truth. 

Here,  then,  is  the  grand  touchstone  of  character. 
"  Every  spirit  which  confesseth  that  Jesus  Christ  is 
come  in  the  flesh  is  of  God:  and  every  spirit  which 
confesseth  not  Jesus  is  not  of  God  "  (1  John  4:  2,  3). 

n.     We  note  the  signs  of  truthfulness  in  character. 

Humility  is  of  the  essence  of  noble  character,  and 
the  more  nearly  it  approaches  perfection  the  more  un- 
assuming it  becomes;  elation  belongs,  alike  mentally 
and  morally,  to  the  poverty  that  deceives  itself.  The 
Pharisee  had  two  reasons  for  the  pride  by  which  he 
was  distinguished — ^his  goodness  was  his  own;  and, 
such  as  it  was,  it  was  perfect.  He  was  self-made,  self- 
sufficient,  self-satisfied.  And  Jesus  "  spake  also  this 
parable  unto  certain  which  trusted  in  themselves  that 
they  were  righteous,  and  set  all  others  at  nought" 
(Luke  18:  9).    "  The  Pharisee  stood  and  prayed  thus 


THE  SNAKE  OF  UNREALITY  223 

with  himself,  God,  I  thank  thee,  that  I  am  not  as  the 
rest  of  men,  extortioners,  unjust,  adulterers,  or  even 
as  this  publican.  I  fast  twice  in  the  week;  I  give 
tithes  of  all  that  I  get"  (11,  13).  God  is  introduced 
as  a  background  to  ensure  sufficient  prominence  to  the 
sorry  figure  of  the  self-worshipper  who  dominates  the 
whole  picture.  He  is  the  sole  builder  of  the  proud 
structure  of  his  excelling  personality ;  its  graces  are  of 
his  own  fashioning ;  its  abounding  merit  is  strictly  his 
own.  The  self-made  man  is  always  a  sorry  creature; 
the  self-made  saint  sorriest  of  all.  How  vast  the  dif- 
ference is  between  this  mood,  and  the  experience  of 
the  real  saint  we  see  in  St.  Paul.  "  Not  having  a 
righteousness  of  mine  own,  even  that  which  is  of  the 
law,  but  that  which  is  through  faith  in  Christ,  the 
righteousness  which  is  of  God  by  faith  "  (Phil.  3:9). 
"  For  by  grace  have  ye  been  saved  through  faith ;  and 
that  not  of  yourselves;  it  is  the  gift  of  God:  not  of 
works,  that  no  man  should  glory.  For  we  are  His 
workmanship,  created  in  Christ  Jesus  for  good  works  " 
(Eph.  2:  8,  9).  Measureless  is  the  chasm  between  the 
creations  of  God  and  the  compositions  of  man;  but 
whatever  the  contrast  in  the  material  realm,  it  is  as 
nothing  compared  with  that  between  the  decorum  of 
the  pietist  and  the  righteousness  of  God ;  the  latter  the 
eternal  verity,  the  former  a  mere  artifice  faintly  re- 
flecting the  vital  reality.  Said  Constable,  "  Nothing 
can  exceed  the  beauty  of  the  country;  it  makes  pic- 
tures appear  sad  trumpery."  Ah,  it  will  not  do  to  look 
at  our  work  in  the  light  of  God's  work,  especially  our 
moral  work.  So  St.  Paul  was  humbled  in  his  own 
sight,  and  acknowledged  all  that  was  really  good  in 
him  was  purely  and  entirely  of  the  grace  of  God.  So 
with  all  true  saints. 


224  THE  SNAEE  OF  UNREALITY 

Another  reason  we  assigned  in  explanation  of  the 
conceit  of  the  Pharisee  was  that  his  fancied  good- 
ness was  perfect.  He  had  done  everything  that  it 
was  his  duty  to  do,  realized  every  possible  perfection. 
We  referred  to  the  workman  of  Michael  Angelo  who 
thought  he  had  become  a  great  sculptor  because  by 
following  his  master's  instructions  he  had  produced 
a  beautiful  statue.  We  have  seen  that  it  was  a  vain 
inference,  and  that  he  was  no  artist  at  all.  But  the 
point  to  emphasize  is  that  the  deluded  fellow  became 
proud  of  himself,  and  began  to  strut.  The  reason 
for  his  vain-glorying  is  not  difficult  to  understand. 
He  had  no  high  aim,  no  fine  ideal,  and  consequently 
no  sense  of  inadequacy,  incompleteness,  or  failure, 
and  therefore  accepted  himself  as  a  master.  His  was 
the  ignoble  satisfaction  that  accompanies  low  en- 
4eavor.  How  entirely  different  with  Angelo !  He  was 
obsessed  by  an  ideal  that  mocked  his  most  skilful  exe- 
cution. A  splendid  vision  of  truth,  beauty,  and  per- 
fection ever  haunted  him,  so  that  he  felt  painfully  the 
infelicity  of  his  creations,  and  left  no  finished  work 
either  in  sculpture,  architecture,  or  painting.  Thus  is 
it  with  all  great  masters.  As  a  French  critic  avows, 
"  Bom  painters  never  believe  they  have  succeeded." 
Here  is  the  explanation  of  the  reserve  and  diffidence 
of  genius,  for  the  self-respect  of  the  gifted  is  wholly 
distinct  from  the  gaseousness  of  the  amateur.  When 
St.  Paul  was  yet  a  Pharisee  he  proposed  to  follow  the 
letter  of  the  law,  and,  having  kept  all  its  precepts  from 
his  youth  up,  he  had  no  sense  of  failure,  nothing  to 
regret,  only  an  emotion  of  pride  in  an  attained  perfec- 
tion; he  anticipated  Angelo's  workman.  But  having 
renounced  his  own  righteousness  for  the  righteousness 
of  God,  having  awoke  to  the  spirituality  of  the  law 


THE  SNAEE  OF  UKREALITY  225 

and  to  the  pattern  of  character  in  Christ,  he  hence- 
forth panted  after  an  infinite  purity  and  beauty,  and 
was  ever  humbled  to  know  how  far  short  of  it  he  fell. 
His  heavenly  vision  left  him  abased  in  his  own  sight, 
with  a  discontent  nobler  than  that  of  the  baffled  An- 
gelo.  So  are  we  ever  chastened  when  we  measure 
ourselves  against  the  commandment  that  is  exceeding 
high  and  broad.  Emerson  is  right:  "Whenever  the 
vein  of  thought  reaches  down  into  the  profound  there 
is  no  danger  from  vanity.'*  We  may  justly  mistrust 
ourselves  whilst  the  faintest  emotion  of  spiritual  pride 
arises  in  our  heart  and  finds  entertainment  there.  By 
the  grace  of  God  we  were  made  His  sons,  by  His 
Spirit  are  we  sanctified,  by  His  power  are  we  kept, 
and  it  is  humiliating  to  know  how  far  we  still  fall 
short  of  His  great  salvation.  We  are  truest,  safest, 
highest,  when  lowliest  at  the  Master's  feet. 

Modesty  is  a  kindred  S)miptom  of  truthfulness. 
The  design  of  the  artificial  is  to  impose  itself  as  the 
real,  and  in  the  attempt  usually  falls  into  the  error 
of  over-emphasis,  over-coloring,  over-doing,  striving 
to  accredit  itself,  the  counterfeit  waxes  loud  and  lurid 
— the  artificial  flower  outreddens  the  garden  rose. 
This  affectation  that  so  easily  becomes  a  caricature  was 
another  sinister  characteristic  of  the  Pharisee.  The 
trumpet,  the  street-corner,  the  disfigured  face,  the 
broad  phylactery,  the  effort  to  impress  betrayed  the 
unreal  and  their  consciousness  of  it.  Reality  is  content 
with  itself,  leaving  the  fact  to  tell  its  own  story,  or  to 
remain  unknown.  The  Creator  never  appears  ob- 
trusively in  the  creation.  His  works  speak  for  them- 
selves, and  thus  best  speak  for  Him.  The  great  Real- 
ity is  invisible;  or,  in  the  paradox  of  Victor  Hugo, 
"  God  is  the  invisible  evident.'*    The  modesty  of  Na- 


226  THE  SNAKE  OF  UNREALITY 

ture  reappears  in  the  spirit  of  our  Lord,  in  whose  life 
and  ministry  there  is  no  trace  of  ostentation,  only  a 
manifest  desire  to  avoid  whatever  savored  of  It.  We 
do  not  wonder,  therefore,  that  His  severest  censure 
is  passed  upon  the  pietists  who  courted  the  limelight. 
"  How  can  ye  believe,  which  receive  glory  one  of  an- 
other, and  the  glory  that  cometh  from  the  only  God  ye 
seek  not?  "  (John  5:  44).  How  anxiously  He  strives 
to  bring  His  hearers  face  to  face  with  God,  that  they 
may  find  in  Him,  and  in  Him  alone,  their  motive, 
strength,  and  reward!  And  the  truest  men  are  con- 
tent with  this.  "  There  are  souls  who  die  out,  after 
burning  with  unsurpassable  moral  beauty  and 
grandeur,  without  ever  having  found  a  way,  and  even 
without  ever  having  felt  the  need,  of  revealing  them- 
selves to  others,"  writes  George  Sand.  Such  is  truth 
and  reality.  It  is  good  before  God,  approved  of  Him, 
blessed  by  Him,  and  therefore  asks  no  further  witness, 
does  not  feel  the  need  of  any  other.  The  sentient 
flower  born  to  blush  unseen  is  content  in  its  own  sweet- 
ness; the  thinking  jewel  in  the  depths,  reposing  in  its 
own  pure  ray,  does  not  crave  the  sun.  We  may  well 
suspect  our  genuineness  when  the  opinions,  praises, 
and  rewards  of  men  occupy  much  of  our  thought  or 
affect  our  actions.  Happy  are  we  if  the  smile  of  God 
be  our  quest,  our  inspiration,  and  our  exceeding  great 
reward. 

Greatness  is  another  attribute  of  the  sincere.  In 
the  absence  of  the  substantial  thing  or  principle,  men 
exaggerate  the  details;  the  immaterial  is  paraded  as 
an  apology  or  a  disguise  for  the  lack  of  the  material. 
He  who  is  conscious  of  faithfulness  to  sovereign 
truths  and  principles  is  little  troubled  about  finesse; 
loyal  to  the  highest,  he  knows  the  rest  will  follow  in 


THE  SNAEE  OF  UNREALITY  227 

just  sequence  and  proportion.  On  this  score  of 
pedantry  our  Lord  impeaches  the  Pharisee.  "  Woe 
unto  you,  scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites!  for  ye 
tithe  mint  and  anise  and  cummin,  and  have  left  un- 
done the  weightier  matters  of  the  law,  judgment,  and 
mercy,  and  faith :  but  these  ye  ought  to  have  done,  and 
not  to  have  left  the  other  undone"  (Matt.  23:  23). 
We  often  meet  with  this  subtle  device  in  history.  Dur- 
ing the  terrible  days  of  the  French  Revolution  young 
men  were  forbidden  by  the  Commune  to  bathe  near  the 
bridges — "  Modesty  is  required ;  a  republic  is  the  aegis 
of  virtue  " — whilst  all  the  time  they  kept  the  guillotine 
hard  at  work  "  grinding  red !  "  So  sensitive  on  a 
question  of  delicacy,  so  monstrous  regarding  the  cardi- 
nal law!  In  the  individual  life  we  similarly  delude 
ourselves,  officiously  insisting  on  the  details  of  duty 
whilst  discounting  the  more  serious  obligations.  The 
pettifogging  spirit  was  far  indeed  from  our  Lord — His 
very  greatness  of  mind  and  ministry  forbade  it;  and 
yet  what  a  conspicuous  place  the  mint,  the  anise,  and 
the  cummin  have  had  in  His  Church!  As  faithful 
followers  of  our  Master,  our  intellect  must  be  exer- 
cised on  the  highest  truths,  our  conscience  charged 
with  the  great  things  of  the  law,  our  heart  enlarged 
with  the  divine  charity,  our  action  regulated  by  lofty 
considerations,  and  our  soul  animated  by  glorious  rea- 
sons and  hopes;  and  whilst  we  live  intent  on  the 
weightier  matters,  with  large  horizons,  and  active  in 
great  causes,  nothing  of  real  significance  will  be  left 
undone. 

Humanity  is  the  unfailing  sign  of  true  character. 
A  great  historian  tells  us  that  the  fatal  defect  of  the 
Greek  was  that  in  his  intellectual  conceit  he  despised 
the  humble;  the  more  fatal  defect  of  the  Pharisee 


228  THE  SNAKE  OF  UNREALITY 

was  that  in  his  rehgious  conceit  he  did  the  same  thing. 
He  accounted  himself  the  porcelain,  consigning  his 
poor  brethren  as  broken  earthenware  to  the  rubbish 
of  the  void.  Although  politically  the  Pharisees  were 
supposed  to  represent  the  defnocracy,  yet  in  fact  they 
were  utterly  lacking  in  sympathy  and  helpfulness. 
They  show  glaringly  the  hatefulness  of  spiritual  pride 
and  inhumanity.  More  haughty  than  the  pride  of 
birth,  more  arrogant  than  that  of  fortune,  more  con- 
temptuous than  that  of  learning,  more  cruel  than  that 
of  power,  is  the  pride  of  the  pious.  So  long  as  the 
religious  associate  themselves  with  the  multitude  that 
they  may  help  and  bless,  they  are  a  blessing  indeed ;  but 
to  constitute  themselves  a  sacred  caste,  inflated  with 
supercilious  pride,  and  disdainful  of  the  humble,  is  to 
create  the  most  accursed  form  of  aristocracy  the  world 
has  ever  known.  This  was  the  reason  that  our  Lord 
treated  the  Pharisee  with  unexampled  severity.  Their 
spirit  was  the  antithesis  of  His  own.  Much  contro- 
versy has  raged  through  the  ages  as  to  the  personality 
of  Antichrist;  but  Antichrist  is  a  spirit;  it  is  the  ego- 
tism that  passes  by  on  the  other  side,  leaving  the  needy 
friendless  and  perishing.  The  doctrine  that  the  great 
may  despise  the  humble,  exploit  the  weak,  crush  the 
defenseless,  has  been  rather  popular  lately  in  certain 
quarters;  but  the  last  place  in  which  it  should  be  en- 
tertained is  in  His  Church  who  "  came  to  seek  and  to 
save  that  which  was  lost.'*  Beware  of  the  leaven  of 
the  Pharisees,  of  the  spirit  that  puffs  up,  that  isolates, 
that  renders  callous.  The  reality  of  greatness  is  best 
demonstrated  in  its  stoop;  and  the  genuineness  of 
goodness  is  best  estimated  as  we  test  it  by  His  example 
who  made  the  profoundest  stoop  of  all.  In  the  depth, 
richness,  and  power  of  our  spirit  of  pity,  compassion. 


THE  SNAKE  OF  UNREALITY  229 

and  sacrifice  do  we  discover  one  of  the  most  reliable 
proofs  of  the  reality  of  our  discipleship. 

Grace  is  the  expression  of  truth.  Truthfulness  is 
of  the  essence  of  all  beauty,  and  it  is  so  specially  in 
relation  to  character.  Without  truth,  truth  in  the  in- 
ward parts,  no  matter  how  cleverly  superior  character 
may  be  counterfeited,  there  is  manifest  failure;  how- 
ever the  dissembler  may  deceive  himself,  he  seldom  de- 
ceives any  one  else  permanently.  On  the  contrary,  the 
really  sincere  may  lack  bodily  grace,  a  happy  expres- 
sion, culture ;  yet,  despite  superficial  imperfections,  so- 
ciety discerns  in  them  a  strength,  a  pleasantness,  a  wor- 
thiness not  to  be  mistaken.  The  final  truth  is  that  the 
true  is  the  beautiful  and  the  false  the  ugly,  whilst  the 
higher  the  grade  to  which  a  thing  belongs  the  more 
intolerable  is  the  fake.  History  relates  how  the  hollow 
virtue  of  the  Greek  and  Roman  stoic  was  mocked  by 
the  discerning;  and  the  pretentiousness  of  the  Pharisee 
was  similarly  despised.  At  once  he  made  himself  and 
sainthood  odious.  And  the  opposite  is  equally  true, 
that  they  who  "  adorn  the  doctrine  of  God  our  Saviour 
in  all  things  "  are  respected,  trusted,  admired,  loved,  by 
all  who  know  them.  "  He  shall  blossom  as  the  lily, 
and  cast  forth  his  roots  as  Lebanon.  His  branches 
shall  spread,  and  his  beauty  shall  be  as  the  olive-tree, 
and  his  smell  as  Lebanon"  (Hosea  14:  5,  6).  We 
may  believe  in  ourselves  as  we  share  the  sweetness  of 
Sharon's  rose. 

"  Looking  unto  Jesus  ":  all  these  glorious  attributes 
— ^humility,  modesty,  greatness,  humanity,  loveliness — 
are  seen  in  Him  in  their  highest  perfection.  Let  us, 
then,  wait  at  His  feet,  welcome  His  grace,  test  our- 
selves by  His  truth,  until  by  His  Spirit  we  are  changed 
into  His  likeness. 


XVII 
THE  BLIGHT  OF  UNBELIEF 

And  Jesus  said  unto  them,  Take  heed  and  beware  of  the  leaven 
of  the    .    .    ,    ,    S adduce es,—U.hrtiL'£,\N  i6 : 6. 

ON  this  occasion  we  are  concerned  with  the  lat- 
ter part  of  our  Lord's  warning,  and  it  is 
necessary  first  of  all  that  we  clearly  under- 
stand the  doctrinal  position  of  the  Sadducees.  What 
was  the  nature  of  the  teaching  that  our  Lord  de- 
nounces in  our  text?  Its  characteristic  features  were 
the  denial  of  the  supernatural,  and  its  faith  in  the  suf- 
ficiency of  the  present  life.  Here  was  the  core  of  the 
Sadducean  creed.  They  denied  the  spirituality  of  hu- 
man nature,  holding  that  the  soul  dies  with  the  body. 
They  denied  the  spiritual  principle  in  human  life,  con- 
tending that  our  whole  good  consists  in  rank  and 
wealth,  in  property  and  dominion,  in  fashion  and  in- 
dulgence. They  denied  the  spiritual  element  in  revela- 
tion, contenting  themselves  with  a  formal  obedience 
to  the  letter  of  the  law.  "  Jesus  said  unto  them,  Is  it 
not  for  this  cause  that  ye  err,  that  ye  know  not  the 
scriptures,  nor  the  power  of  God?"  (Mark  12:  24). 
It  was  the  one  thing  they  prided  themselves  upon 
knowing,  but  the  Master  showed  how  they  missed  its 
deeper  signification.  They  denied  the  spiritual  factor 
in  history,  affirming  the  supremacy  of  the  human  will 
in  the  determination  of  all  events,  and  rejecting  the 
hope  of  a  divine  goal  to  the  travail  of  the  ages.  They 
denied  the  spirituality  of  worship,  for  whilst  their  rank 
and  fortune  were  based  on  their  ecclesiastical  pre- 
eminence, their  entire  religious  system  was  formal  and 

230 


THE  BLIGHT  OF  UNBELIEF  231 

financial.  Finally,  they  denied  the  spiritual  universe 
and  man's  high  destination  therein,  not  believing  in 
angel  or  spirit,  in  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  or  in 
the  life  everlasting.  They  had  no  really  great  hope  for 
humanity  either  in  this  world  or  in  that  which  is  to 
come.  In  a  word,  the  Sadducees  were  thoroughly  men 
of  this  world,  intensely,  exclusively  secular,  finding 
whatever  was  necessary  or  desirable  in  this  mortal  life, 
in  material  wealth,  social  honor,  sensuous  gratification, 
temporal  success  and  glory.  The  eternal  universe  was 
recognized  just  as  far  as  it  was  a  source  of  worldly 
aggrandizement,  a  lucrative  fiction;  little  beyond  was 
deemed  worthy  of  notice.  A  witty  Frenchman  re- 
marks that  "  A  deist  is  an  atheist  with  an  eye  to  the 
off-chance  of  some  advantage."  Such  were  the  Sad- 
ducees. The  creed,  spirit,  and  life  of  these  people  were 
directly  contrary  to  the  genius  of  our  Lord,  whose 
mission  on  earth  was  to  spiritualize  all  our  concep- 
tions concerning  human  nature,  to  restore  our  relation 
to  God,  to  confirm  our  faith  in  His  word  and  govern- 
ment, to  establish  the  kingdom  of  heaven  on  earth,  to 
assure  us  that  a  man's  life  does  not  consist  in  the 
abundance  of  the  things  which  he  possesses,  and  to  fit 
us  for  that  immortality  which  by  the  gospel  He  brings 
to  light.  The  two  ideals  are  profoundly  at  variance; 
no  contrast  could  be  more  absolute  or  complete. 

The  Sadducee  is  with  us  still,  the  generation  which 
ignores  the  supernatural  and  concentrates  itself  on 
the  here  and  now.  Given  health,  prosperity,  and 
friendship,  many  find  the  world  a  very  pleasant  place 
to  live  In;  they  have  no  wants  or  aspirations  that  it 
does  not  supply.  They  complain  that  deep  mystery 
enshrouds  mystical  beliefs  and  hopes;  therefore  they 
conclude  that  it  is  the  truest  wisdom  to  make  the  most 


232  THE  BLIGHT  OF  UNBELIEF 

of  the  present,  to  get  out  of  it  what  sweetness  we  may, 
and  then  leave  it  without  regret  or  expectation. 

It  is  our  purpose,  then,  in  the  present  discourse  to 
expose  the  unreasonableness  and  fatal  influence  of 
unbelief  in  the  highest  things,  and  to  assert  the  benign 
influence  of  a  spiritual  faith  upon  human  nature  and 
life. 

I.  The  Unreasonableness  of  Unbelief. — It  is 
well  that  we  define  what  we  mean  by  unbelief. 
Michelet  rightly  observes,  "  Between  belief  and  un- 
belief there  are  infinite  gradations,  innumerable  inter- 
mediates," all  the  distance  between  a  faint  acquiescence 
and  a  contemptuous  rejection.  The  unbelief  that  the 
New  Testament  condemns  is  the  rejection  of  spiritual 
doctrine,  after  it  has  been  approached  and  treated  in 
the  spirit  of  prejudice  and  antagonism.  All  it  asks 
is  a  fair,  unbiased  consideration.  It  has  been  well 
said  that  "  suspended  judgment  is  the  greatest  tri- 
umph of  intellectual  discipline " ;  and  this  approved 
position  of  the  searcher  after  the  truth  of  naturalism, 
which  is  far  removed  from  the  mood  of  scepticism,  is 
the  frame  of  mind  that  revelation  demands  in  the 
religious  inquirer.  It  asks  for  the  same  balance  of 
mind  as  that  in  which  students  approach  the  problems 
of  philosophy  and  science.  It  is  impossible  that  we 
should  gain  a  correct  view  of  any  question  if  we  come 
to  its  consideration  in  a  spirit  of  obstinate  doubtful- 
ness and  hostility,  and  specially  good  reasons  exist  for 
treating  religious  questions  with  candor  and  sympathy. 
The  Bereans  were  ideal  critics  who  set  the  pattern  for 
criticism  for  all  time;  they  sought  to  ascertain 
"  whether  these  things  were  so,"  not  with  a  bias  to 
prove  that  these  things  were  not  so. 

It  is  sometimes  assumed  that  doubt  is  the  temper  in 


THE  BLIGHT  OF  UNBELIEF  233 

which  thinkers  approach  the  problems  of  philosophy; 
but,  in  fact,  this  is  not  true  of  the  successful  student. 
When  he  sets  out  to  discover  a  reasoned  account  of 
the  universe,  he  does  so,  not  with  a  secret  or  active 
scepticism,  but  with  a  certain  latent  faith  and  expecta- 
tion. Martensen  writes:  "Dogmatics  does  not  make 
doiiht  its  starting-point,  as  philosophy  is  often  required 
to  do;  it  is  not  developed  out  of  the  void  of  scepticism, 
but  out  of  the  fullness  of  faith.  ...  It  springs 
out  of  the  capacity  of  faith  to  unfold  from  its  own 
depths  a  wealth  of  treasures  of  wisdom  and  of  knowl- 
edge, to  build  up  a  kingdom  of  acknowledged  truths."  * 
Yet,  strictly  speaking,  doubt  is  no  more  the  starting- 
point  of  philosophy  than  it  is  of  theology;  neither  is 
philosophy  developed  out  of  a  void  of  scepticism,  but 
out  of  a  reality  of  faith,  whether  it  is  the  fullness  of 
faith  or  not.  In  a  letter  to  Lord  Farrer,  Darwin 
writes:  "  If  we  consider  the  whole  universe,  the  mind 
refuses  to  look  at  it  as  the  outcome  of  chance — that  is, 
without  design  and  purpose."  ^  Faith  was  the  start- 
ing-point of  Darwin's  philosophy,  an  instinctive  belief 
in  the  rationality  of  the  universe.  When  he  came  to 
deal  with  any  particular  theory  of  the  cosmos  he  would 
hesitate,  reflect,  determine;  but  he  began  with  the 
faith  that  som.e  Power  had  organized  it  with  all  it  ex- 
pressed of  wisdom  and  beauty.  "  By  faith  we  under- 
stand that  the  worlds  have  been  framed  by  the  word 
of  God,  so  that  what  is  seen  hath  not  been  made  out 
of  things  which  do  appear"  (Heb.  11:  3).  Not  for- 
mally, but  substantially,  this  was  the  faith  Darwin  was 
constrained  to  allow,  the  beginning  and  moulder  of 
his  philosophy.  With  a  compelling  faith,  with  pro- 
found obstinate  instinctive  beliefs,  thinkers  approach 
*  Christian  Dogmatics,  p.  3.    ^  More  Letters,  vol.  i.,  p.  395- 


234  THE  BLIGHT  OF  UNBELIEF 

the  great  problem,  and  out  of  a  reality  of  faith,  not 
out  of  a  void  of  scepticism,  are  the  prevailing  philoso- 
phies developed. 

Neither  is  doubt  the  starting-point  of  science,  nor  in 
the  spirit  of  doubt  is  it  successfully  cultivated,  Sir 
Oliver  Lodge  has  v^ritten  somewhere,  "  Incredulity 
and  disbelief  are  not  really  scientific  attributes ;  inquiry 
and  scepticism  are  " — the  meaning  of  the  latter  part  of 
the  definition  being  that  inquiry  and  caution  are  scien- 
tific attributes,  for  obviously  by  scepticism  he  does  not 
mean  disbelief.  In  seeking  to  interpret  phenomena  his 
temper  is  not  that  of  suspicion  and  opposition,  but  of 
alertness  and  expectancy.  He  is  not  blinded  by  pre- 
suppositions, but  prepared  for  whatever  experiment 
may  reveal,  even  when  the  result  is  most  unexpected. 
The  use  of  the  imagination  in  research  is  commended 
and  urged  by  leading  scientists,  and  the  exercise  of  this 
faculty  is  in  close  analogy  with  that  spiritual  imagina- 
tion called  faith,  by  the  aid  of  which  we  seize  the 
higher  truths.  The  active  sympathetic  imagination 
seeking  truth  in  the  material  realm  is  palpably  more 
akin  to  faith  than  it  is  to  scepticism.  Scientists  them- 
selves admit  the  fact  that  the  spirit  of  incredulity  has 
interfered  with  the  entire  success  of  able  experimental- 
ists. This  lack  of  confidence  and  courage  limited  the 
triumphs  of  the  famous  Boyle  himself.  Sir  Henry 
Holland  informs  us  of  the  failure  of  Wollaston,  the 
great  chemist.  "  The  habitual  scepticism  of  his  mind 
was  a  hindrance  to  his  own  scientific  career.  This  was 
strikingly  shown  in  the  circumstances  attending  the 
discovery  of  the  metal  Palladium ;  and  at  a  later  time 
in  relation  to  the  greater  discovery  of  the  electro-mag- 
netic rotation.  Though  the  first  to  denote  the  dark 
lines  in  the  solar-spectrum,  the  germ  of  so  many  later 


THE  BLIGHT  OF  UNBELIEF  235 

researches,  he  did  not  himself  carry  the  observation 
further.  That  aid  which  hypothesis,  duly  limited, 
renders  to  experimental  inquiry,  he  unduly  disdained 
and  put  aside.  He  would  have  accomplished  more  had 
he  doubted  less." ' 

Neither  is  doubt  the  starting-point  of  religion,  and 
we  ought  not  to  make  it  so.  We  have  indeed  strong 
reasons  to  the  contrary.  Just  as  the  initiative  and 
justification  of  philosophy  are  an  instinctive  persua- 
sion of  the  reality  of  truth,  of  the  rationality  of  the 
universe;  just  as  the  scientist  starts  with  an  inborn 
conviction  of  the  reality,  unity,  and  order  of  Nature, 
and  out  of  this  primal  faith  develops  a  wealth  of  wis- 
dom and  knowledge  which  is  the  intellectual  glory  of 
our  age;  so  we  have  a  natural  faith  in  supernatural 
truths,  which,  however  dim  at  first,  will,  when  properly 
cultivated,  lead  to  the  vision  splendid.  We  are  often 
reminded  of  the  animal  relics  which  survive  in  our  con- 
stitution, souvenirs  of  the  jungle;  but  what  is  much 
more  manifest,  and  infinitely  more  important,  is,  how 
our  nature  abounds  in  prophetic  instincts,  in  large  spir- 
itual capacities  and  longings.  The  doctrines  of  reve- 
lation appealing  to  faith  are  not  strange,  irrelevant, 
superfluous  articles,  but  are  immediately  related  to  our 
needs,  experiences,  aspirations.  Our  consciousness  of 
sin,  the  struggle  of  our  double  nature,  the  longing  of 
the  whole  man  for  deliverance  from  the  power  of  sin 
and  from  the  evils  which  originate  in  it,  the  need  of 
moral  strength,  the  need  of  consolation  in  deep  suffer- 
ing, the  passion  of  life  and  immortality  form  a  basis 
for  belief  in  the  fitness  and  preciousness  of  the  gospel 
salvation.  Revelation  does  not  prescribe  specifics 
that  we  do  not  need,  nor  postulate  prizes  to  which  we 
*  Recollections  of  Past  Life,  p.  8i. 


236  THE  BLIGHT  OF  UNBELIEF 

do  not  aspire ;  but  supplies  the  medicines  for  our  mal- 
adies, satisfies  the  cravings  of  the  soul,  realizes  the 
great  ideas  of  the  mind. 

By  a  materialistic,  sensual,  or  worldly  life,  and  the 
sophistry  which  goes  with  it,  the  reason  and  conscience 
may  be  so  perverted  as  to  deny  all  supernaturalism ; 
but  even  then  the  spiritual  instincts  continue  to  assert 
themselves,  and  involve  the  sceptic  in  endless  perplex- 
ity and  inconsistency.  **  What  puzzles  me  is  the  in- 
tense sympathy  Whittier  forces  me  to  feel  for  religious 
emotions  I  do  not  share,  and  for  a  simple  faith,  which 
I  know  to  be  a  delusion,  to  be  philosophically  all 
wrong.  It  is  like  hearing  a  great  congregation  sing- 
ing, "  Nearer,  my  God,  to  Thee."  No  one  can  hear  it 
without  feeling  his  heart  swell — ^whether  he  believes 
in  a  soul  or  not.'*  ^  "  The  Sanctus  of  Beethoven,  sung 
to-day  after  lunch,  made  me  undergo  a  nervous  emo- 
tion, and  sent  tears  to  my  eyes.  These  religious  chants 
stir  up  in  me  all  the  pains  of  my  past  life,  and  I,  the 
sceptic,  the  unbeliever,  on  whom  the  eloquence  of  the 
flesh  could  have  no  effect,  I  feel  that  I  could  be  con- 
verted by  plain-song  or  by  the  music  which  comes  of 
it."  *  So  inevitable  and  inextinguishable  are  the  spir- 
itual affinities  and  demands  of  human  nature;  by  log- 
ical legerdemain  we  cheat  the  brain,  but  the  hunger  of 
the  heart  is  not  to  be  denied. 

What  system  gives  equal  promise  with  Christianity 
to  meet  the  questionings  and  aspirations  of  humanity, 
or  to  deal  effectually  with  our  maladies,  sorrows,  and 
perils?  The  great  Teacher  taught  with  supreme  au- 
thority, "  full  of  grace  and  truth,"  and  all  His  teach- 
ings are  as  profound  as  the  heart  itself.  No  system 
of  philosophy  or  science  ever  came  to  men  accredited 

*Lafcadio  Hearn,  Japanese  Letters,  p.  149. 
*  Journal  of  the  de  Goncourts, 


THE  BLIGHT  OF  UNBELIEF  237 

as  is  the  gospel.  It  appeals  to  our  highest  nature, 
on  the  highest  grounds,  with  sincerity,  power,  sym- 
pathy, and  faithfulness.  "  Simon  Peter  answered 
Him,  Lord,  to  whom  shall  we  go?  Thou  hast  the 
words  of  eternal  life.  And  we  have  believed  and 
know  that  Thou  art  the  Holy  One  of  God"  (John 
6:  68,  69).  It  is  in  the  utmost  degree  unreasonable 
not  to  give  Him  an  attentive  and  sympathetic  hearing. 
"And  He  marvelled  because  of  their  unbelief  "  (Mark 
Q:  6).  After  all  that  He  had  taught  and  wrought, 
speaking  as  man  never  spoke,  working  in  deeds  of  in- 
comparable power  and  compassion,  exhibiting  a  life  of 
wondrous  purity,  self-sacrifice,  and  patience,  they  re- 
mained unaffected  and  hostile.  In  the  face  of  the  ac- 
cumulated evidences  for  His  divine  nature  and  doc- 
trine supplied  by  nearly  two  thousand  years,  can  He  be 
less  amazed  at  the  unbelief  of  our  generation? 

II.  The  Fatal  Practical  Influence  of  Un- 
belief.— What  was  the  effect  of  denying  the  spiritual 
conception  of  life,  of  concentrating  attention  upon  the 
present,  of  excluding  all  reference  to  a  higher  world 
and  a  future  life?  How  does  this  practical  atheism 
work?  Great  claims  are  often  made  for  secularism; 
we  are  assured  that,  if  we  once  got  rid  of  theological 
notions,  we  should  be  surprised  at  an  outburst  of  great 
character  and  of  public  freedom,  prosperity,  and  happi- 
ness; our  religion  being  a  dead-weight  on  mind,  en- 
ergy, and  enterprise.  Does  history  sanction  this 
theory?  Does  the  account  that  it  renders  of  the  char- 
acter of  the  Sadducee,  his  social  and  political  influence, 
confirm  these  sanguine  views  of  secularism?  We 
think  not. 

The  personal  character  of  the  Sadducee  was  not 
raised  by  his  disbelief.  The  type  of  man  fashioned 
by  the  terrestrial  creed  is  far  from  exciting  admira^ 


238  THE  BLIGHT  OF  UNBELIEF 

tion.  Judging  them  by  the  designation  they  assumed, 
"the  righteous,"  "the  pious,"  we  might  reasonably 
expect  great  things ;  but  the  practical  outcome  is  most 
disappointing.  They  professed  a  severe  adhesion  to 
the  Mosaic  law;  it  was  their  boast  that  they  held 
strictly  to  its  letter,  making  no  addition  to  it  as  the 
Pharisee  did ;  but  they  treated  it  with  great  independ- 
ence, rationalizing  it,  and  in  effect  making  it  void.  In 
theory  their  creed  was  that  of  Moses;  in  fact  it  was 
that  of  Epicurus.  Greek  philosophy  and  culture  had 
been  largely  adopted  by  the  Hebrew,  and  the  Sadducee 
was  specially  influenced  by  them.  He  asserted  that 
man's  aim  and  end  was  limited  to  earth,  and  that  he 
finds  his  resurrection  in  his  children ;  the  true  destiny 
of  existence  is  to  be  sought  in  a  pleasant  life,  in  riches 
and  honor,  in  leaving  a  posterity,  and  in  dying  without 
fear  or  hope  for  soul  or  body.  Substantially  the 
pagan  creed  of  the  Epicurean.  A  selfish,  sensual,  tem- 
poral existence,  to  be  made  as  free  from  pain  and  dis- 
turbance as  possible.  How  contrary  to  the  teaching 
of  Jesus ! 

In  St.  John's  Gospel  (12:  20)  we  read  of  certain 
Greeks  who  had  come  up  to  the  Passover  Feast  wish- 
ing to  see  Jesus.  Schmiedel  complains  of  the  colorless 
way  in  which  the  scene  is  sketched.  The  two  dis- 
ciples, Philip  and  Andrew,  seek  to  introduce  the 
strangers;  but  what  is  the  sequel?  Whether  the 
Greeks  were  admitted  to  see  Him,  what  they  said, 
what  Jesus  said  to  them — about  all  this  we  hear 
nothing.''  What  follows  in  the  record,  it  is  suggested, 
is  entirely  irrelevant.  But  is  it  so?  "And  Jesus  an- 
swereth  them,  saying,  The  hour  is  come,  that  the  Son 
of  man  should  be  glorified.  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto 
you,  Except  a  grain  of  wheat  fall  into  the  earth  and 
*  The  Johannine  Writings,  Translation  by  Canney,  p.  78L 


THE  BLIGHT  OF  UNBELIEF  239 

die,  it  abideth  by  itself  alone;  but  if  it  die,  it  beareth 
much  fruit.  He  that  loveth  his  life  loseth  it ;  and  he 
that  hateth  his  life  in  this  world  shall  keep  it  unto  life 
eternal  "  (23-25).  Here  was  a  reply  to  the  Greeks,  a 
direct  contradiction  to  the  worldly  egoistic  philosophy 
with  which  these  strangers  were  familiar,  of  which 
perhaps  they  were  disciples.  Through  self-denial  the 
greatest  benefits  were  to  accrue  to  the  individual  and 
the  race.  All  that  was  vital  to  souls  and  society  must 
arise  out  of  renunciation,  humiliation,  sacrifice.  He 
who  weakly  loves  his  soul,  pampering  and  indulging  it 
in  animal  pleasure  and  vanity,  loses  it.  He  who 
wisely  hates  his  soul,  repressing  and  denying  its  tend- 
encies to  earth  and  sin,  preserves  it  to  life  eternal. 
Egotism  is  an  ignoble  and  a  fundamental  heresy.  Yet 
such  was  the  creed  of  the  Epicurean,  the  creed  of  the 
Sadducee.  The  deepest  witness  of  the  human  heart 
agrees  with  the  teaching  of  our  Lord ;  for  however  we 
may  flatter  those  who  do  well  to  themselves,  we  hold 
their  sordid  spirit  and  life  in  contempt.  The  Oriental 
paints  in  his  own  fashion  the  selfish  worldling,  intent 
on  material  reward  and  temporal  felicity,  no  great  or 
generous  purpose  in  his  soul.  "  The  wretched  man 
who  in  this  busy  world  does  not  practise  devotion,  only 
cooks  weeds  in  a  jewelled  saucepan;  or  ploughs  his 
fields  with  a  golden  plough,  only  to  sow  tares;  or 
fences  his  land  with  a  hedge  after  cutting  down  his 
camphor-trees,  only  to  grow  wild  grain."  He  has  re- 
nounced the  really  precious  things  for  the  compara- 
tively worthless,  and  such  characters,  however  big 
their  barns  or  considerable  their  goods,  are  never  ob- 
jects of  admiration;  the  instinctive  homage  of  the 
heart  is  reserved  for  men  of  an  altogether  different 
type. 

As  the  central  principle  of  the  Sadducees  was  false. 


240  THE  BLIGHT  OF  TUSTBELIEF 

his  conduct  was  correspondingly  lax.  That  they  were 
hated  by  the  people  for  their  haughtiness  of  spirit  and 
the  cruel  severity  of  their  judgments,  and  that  they 
were  intolerant  and  fierce  amongst  themselves,  is 
placed  on  record  by  Josephus.  That  they  lapsed  into 
gross  indulgence  is  equally  certain.  "  Sadduceeism,  in 
particular,  lacked  the  anxious  attention  to  purity  which 
occasioned  the  gulf  between  Pharisaism  and  Rome. 
They  were  charged  with  unlawful,  sensual,  and  indeed 
impure  habits  of  life."  ^  *'  The  general  nature  of  this 
school  can  be  recognized  with  tolerable  confidence.  It 
was  the  school  of  freedom  of  life,  of  thought  and  ac- 
tion; but  it  was  a  freedom  which  sprang  out  of  the 
Greek  age  with  its  deep  moral  degradation,  which  cor- 
responded with  it,  and  was  acceptable  to  it."'  The 
luxury,  voluptuousness,  and  license  of  these  Hebrew 
ecclesiastics  would  seem  to  have  anticipated  the  moral 
condition  of  the  Court  of  the  Renascence  Popes. 
Whilst  they  embellished  their  lives  by  foreign  art  and 
culture,  they  corrupted  and  dishonored  themselves  by 
imbibing  the  spirit  and  adopting  the  vices  which  ac- 
companied these  adornments.  History  has  made  very 
clear  the  ghastly  moral  degradation  which  prevailed  in 
the  realm  of  Greek  civilization,  speedily  destroying  it; 
and  the  Epicureanism  of  the  Jew  would  not  prove  less 
fatal.  As  in  Eastern  jungles  orchids  flourish  whose 
most  delicate  and  beautiful  blossoms  distil  scents  with 
the  pungency  of  carrion,  so  the  most  repulsive  vices  af- 
front us  amid  all  the  intellectual  and  artistic  brilliance 
of  an  atheistic  and  a  secular  age.  History  gives  no 
encouragement  to  expect  pure,  noble,  heroic  lives  in 
that  atmosphere.  It  shows  most  convincingly  that 
when  a  God  of  holiness  is  forgotten,  a  moral  universe 
ignored,  and  the  spiritual  rewards  of  virtue  are  no 
*  Keim.  ^  Ewald,  History  of  Israel 


THE  BLIGHT  OF  UNBELIEF  241 

longer  sought,  human  nature  soon  grows  wild,  rots, 
exhausts  itself,  and  perishes. 

Neither  does  the  Sadducee  show  to  advantage  on  the 
social  side.  It  is  a  plausible  contention  of  secularism 
that  if  our  whole  strength  were  applied  to  earthly 
business  it  must  prove  more  profitable  than  when  at- 
tention is  diverted  to  another  world  and  life.  Sir 
Robert  Ball  tells  us  that  the  problem  of  the  movement 
of  a  planet  under  the  influence  of  two  suns  is  one  of 
the  most  difficult  that  has  ever  been  proposed  to 
mathematicians,  and  it  is,  indeed,  impossible  in  the 
present  state  of  analysis  to  solve  with  accuracy  all  the 
questions  which  it  implies.  The  secularist  finds  him- 
self between  two  worlds,  two  worlds  with  contrary  at- 
tractions, and  their  reconciliation  constitutes  a  problem 
that  he  cannot  solve,  and  the  consideration  of  it  only 
perplexes  and  paralyzes.  He  therefore  determines  to 
focus  his  whole  strength  on  the  world  at  his  feet ;  this 
is  real,  necessary,  urgent,  and  all  problems  must  be 
postponed.  But  the  plausible  theory  does  not  hold  in 
experience ;  to  exclude  a  higher  world  does  not,  in  fact, 
intensify  our  interest  in  this.  The  sect  before  us  fur- 
nish an  example  of  this.  "  Sadduceeism,  to  say  noth- 
ing of  a  future  life,  never  warmly  interested  itself  in 
the  ideal  of  the  present  life,"  is  the  verdict  of  the  his- 
torian. They  certainly  made  the  best  of  this  life  mate- 
rially so  far  as  their  own  personal  interests  were  con- 
cerned, they  were  zealous  members  of  the  "  lucrative 
party,'*  they  were  rich,  occupied  the  highest  offices, 
lived  elegantly  and  luxuriously;  but  they  were  far 
from  making  the  best  of  things  for  the  community. 
They  lacked  sympathy  with  the  people,  and  were  hated 
by  the  people.  Satisfied  with  their  affluent  situation, 
living  a  pleasant  life,  they  resented  the  social  move- 
ment that  threatened  to  disturb  their  happy  circum- 


242  THE  BLIGHT  OF  UNBELIEF 

stances.  Isolated  from  the  people,  they  were  jealous 
of  any  social  aspiration  that  threatened  their  monop- 
oly. Disbelief  in  a  higher  world  and  in  the  things 
which  accompany  faith  in  that  world  will  very  prob- 
ably produce  an  intense  egoist,  intent  on  secular  gain; 
but  the  altruistic  sentiment  which  constrains  the  indi- 
vidual to  deny  himself  for  social  advantage  must  come 
from  another  source.  Of  this  sentiment  the  Sadducee 
was  wholly  devoid,  and  his  intense  devotion  to  the 
carnal  life  made  him  a  blight  to  society,  a  curse  to  his 
nation. 

"  Beware  of  the  leaven  of  the  Sadducee  "  I  Do  not 
anticipate  that  a  narrow  sordid  spirit  will  ensure  social 
progress  or  national  development.  By  denying  the 
heights  and  depths  and  lengths  and  breadths  of  a  spir- 
itual faith  we  take  from  the  individual  the  principle 
of  development,  and  from  the  nations  the  principle  of 
life  and  growth.  Sadduceeism  was  a  stage  in  the  proc- 
ess of  the  national  dissolution,  and  must  ever  consti- 
tute such  a  stage.  We  cannot  make  society  progress- 
ive, a  nation  great,  or  a  race  noble  and  happy  by  mak- 
ing the  individual  small  and  narrow,  and  confining  him 
to  a  sordid,  temporal,  and  animal  life.  In  a  speech  by 
Edmund  Burke  occurs  a  passage  which  in  its  first  ap- 
plication was  political,  but  it  has  also  a  larger  signifi- 
cance. He  is  arguing  that  statesmen  should  ever  be 
mindful  in  their  legislation  to  take  wide  and  compre- 
hensive views,  to  remember  the  greatness  of  the  British 
Empire,  lest  their  decisions  lack  proportion  and  be- 
little and  destroy.  "  I  think  I  can  trace  all  the  calami- 
ties of  this  country  to  the  single  source  of  our  not 
having  steadily  before  our  eyes  a  comprehensive  view 
of  the  whole  of  our  dominions,  and  a  just  sense  of 
their  true  bearings  and  relations.  .  .  .  If  we  make 
ourselves  too  little  for  the  sphere  of  our  duty,  if,  on 


THE  BLIGHT  OF  UNBELIEF  243 

the  contrary,  we  do  not  stretch  and  expand  our  minds 
to  the  compass  of  their  object,  be  well  assured  that 
everything  about  us  will  dwindle  by  degrees,  until  at 
length  our  concerns  are  shrunk  to  the  dimensions  of 
our  minds.  It  is  not  a  predilection  to  mean,  sordid, 
home-bred  cares  that  will  avert  the  consequence  of  a 
false  estimation  of  our  interest,  or  prevent  the  shame- 
ful dilapidation  into  which  a  great  empire  must  fall  by 
mean  reparations  upon  mighty  ruins."  *  What  calami- 
ties, then,  will  follow  the  contraction  of  our  views  to 
earth  and  time  ?  What  if  we  make  ourselves  too  little 
for  the  sphere  of  our  duty?  In  that  case  we  may  be 
well  assured  that  everything  about  us  will  dwindle  by 
degrees,  until  our  concerns  shrink  to  the  dimensions 
of  our  minds.  If  we  cease  to  expand  our  thought  to 
the  vast  compass  of  the  divine  and  eternal,  no  devotion 
to  "  home-bred  cares,"  to  sordid  pursuits,  to  banks  and 
barns,  banquets  and  balls,  will  for  long  avert  shameful 
social  and  national  degeneration.  The  presence  on  the 
stage  of  a  considerable  body  of  atheistic  materialists 
like  the  Sadducees  may  always  be  taken  as  a  proof  of 
national  corruption,  and  as  a  presage  "that  God  is 
about  to  dissolve  an  empire."  We  cannot  dwarf  our- 
selves without  degrading  our  whole  estate.  A  great 
ideal  is  the  condition  of  our  evolution.  Whatever 
comes  within  the  span  of  this  earthly  life,  and  "  which 
is  for  the  moment,  worketh  for  us  more  and  more  ex- 
ceedingly an  eternal  weight  of  glory;  while  we  look 
not  at  the  things  which  are  seen,  but  at  the  things 
which  are  not  seen:  for  the  things  which  are  seen  are 
temporal;  but  the  things  which  are  not  seen  are  eter- 
nal" (2  Cor.  4:17,  18). 

^Speech  on  the  N^ipob  of  drcofs  Debts. 


XVIII 
THE  LURE  OF  COMPROMISE 

Beware  of    ,    ,    ,    ,    the  leaven  of  Herod.— Mailk  8 :  15. 

ALIENS  by  race,  the  Herods  were  Jews  in 
faith,  and  a  marked  feature  of  their  dynasty 
in  regard  to  religion  was  its  temporizing  pol- 
icy. On  the  one  side  they  sought  to  conciliate  the  Jew- 
ish people  over  whom  they  exercised  lordship.  Herod 
the  Great  built  their  temple  in  rare  splendor,  and  in 
various  ways  paid  deference  to  the  national  faith.  But 
by  the  side  of  this  respect  for  the  Jewish  religion  was 
the  favor  they  showed  towards  heathenism.  Side  by 
side  with  the  sanctuary  on  Zion  they  built  pagan 
temples,  and  put  the  Roman  eagle  into  the  very  porch 
of  the  house  of  God.  They  also  built  theatres  and 
amphitheatres,  and  introduced  gladiatorial  contests, 
not  only  in  the  neighborhood  of  Jerusalem,  but,  to  the 
horror  of  the  pious,  into  the  holy  city  itself.  To  pro- 
mote the  power  and  glory  of  their  House  the  Herodi- 
ans  in  turn  flattered  both  Jew  and  Roman.  To  carry 
out  successfully  this  delicate  policy  required  much 
astuteness  and  unscrupulousness ;  but  father  and  sons 
were  equal  to  the  occasion,  displaying  to  perfection  the 
necessary  cunning.  At  one  stroke  our  Lord  expressed 
the  character  of  Herod  Antipas,  and  that  of  his  kin- 
dred, when  "  He  said  unto  them,  Go  and  say  to  that 
fox"  (Luke  13:  32). 
It  is  against  this  double-mindedness  that  our  Lord 

H4 


THE  LUKE  OF  COMPEOMISE  245 

protests  in  the  text.  He  warns  us  against  the  lack 
of  sincerity  that  would  hold  the  truth  in  unrighteous- 
ness, lightly  use  religion  for  temporal  advantage,  and 
that  for  the  sake  of  profit,  honor,  or  pleasure  would 
sacrifice  solemn  convictions.  He  meant  that  we  should 
believe  in  the  hig'hest  truth,  and  be  prepared  to  resist 
every  temptation  to  compromise  with  error  and  un- 
righteousness. Sharply  to  deny  the  faith  is  not  so 
imminent  a  danger;  but  a  partial  surrender  of  some 
of  its  principles  and  claims  may  appear  as  ''  practical 
politics,"  as  an  act,  indeed,  of  superior  wisdom  and 
large-mindedness.  In  the  thought  of  Jesus  no  prospect 
of  worldly  gain  or  aggrandizement  must  be  allowed  to 
induce  us  to  make  the  slightest  concession  to  the 
worldly  spirit ;  we  must  firmly,  sternly,  and  at  all  costs, 
stand  by  the  true,  the  pure,  the  highest,  for  any  at- 
tempt to  adjust  our  differences  with  falsity  and  un- 
righteousness is  full  of  peril ;  we  have  nothing  to  gain, 
everything  to  lose.  Our  attitude  to  the  whole  inferior 
life  must  be  that  of  uncompromising  hostility. 

I.  Let  us  inquire  into  the  nature  of  this  warning. 
"Leaven  of  Herod."  What  does  this  mean  to  us? 
Against  what  are  we  expressly  warned  ? 

1.  Against  the  attempt  to  reconcile  godliness  and 
worldliness.  We  know  what  is  to  be  understood  by  "  a 
man  of  God  "  and  by  "  a  man  of  the  world."  The 
psalmist  in  the  seventy-third  Psalm  gives  the  portrai- 
ture of  both,  and  the  New  Testament  accentuates  the 
delineation.  The  one  recognizing  the  presence  and 
will  of  God  in  all  this  human  life,  being  regulated  by 
His  fear,  seeking  to  please  Him,  doing  all  for  His 
glory,  using  the  whole  worldly  life  to  spiritual  and 
divine  ends;  the  other,  living  without  the  thought  of 
God,  self-sufficient,  self-willed,  using  the  world  as  an 


Ue  THE  LUKE  OF  COMPKOMISE 

end  in  itself,  and  finding  in  its  ambitions,  goods,  and 
pleasures,  final  satisfaction.  Two  entirely  disparate 
and  contradictory  ideals  of  life.  It  is  impossible  to 
follow  both.  Elijah  recognized  this.  "And  Elijah 
came  near  unto  all  the  people,  and  said.  How  long  halt 
ye  between  two  opinions?  If  the  Lord  be  God,  follow 
Him:  but  if  Baal,  then  follow  him  "  (1  Kings  18:  21). 
And  our  Lord  settled  this  point  for  ever  when  He  de- 
clared, "  Ye  cannot  serve  God  and  mammon  "  (Matt. 
6:  24).  Our  Lord  was  not  One  readily  to  admit  im- 
possibilities, but  even  He  acknowledged  the  impos- 
sibility of  blending  in  one  life  the  love  of  God  and  the 
love  of  the  world.  Napoleon  boasted  that  he  had  no 
such  word  as  "  impossible  "  in  his  dictionary.  Our 
Lord  had!  He  counted  it  impossible  to  live  to  high 
spiritual  ends,  and  yet  to  comply  with  the  spirit  and 
maxims  of  the  carnal  life.  What  He  reckoned  impos- 
sible no  wit  of  man  will  reconcile. 

How  emphatically  our  Lord  rejected  any  attempt  to 
compromise  in  whatever  related  to  the  spiritual  king- 
dom He  came  to  establish !  "  And  as  they  went  in  the 
way,  a  certain  man  said  unto  Him,  I  will  follow  Thee 
whithersoever  Thou  goest  '*  (Luke  9:  57).  Our  Lord 
immediately  reminded  him  that  only  those  who  were 
prepared  to  sacrifice  all  worldly  comforts,  when  they 
conflict  with  spiritual  loyalty,  could  be  received  into 
His  discipleship.  "  And  he  said  unto  another.  Follow 
Me.  But  he  said.  Lord,  suffer  me  first  to  go  and  bury 
my  father  "  (verse  59).  The  prompt  and  severe  reply 
was  that  family  affection  could  not  be  allowed  to  in- 
fringe on  spiritual  principle  and  duty.  "  And  anpther 
also  said,  I  will  follow  Thee,  Lord ;  but  first  suffer  me 
to  bid  farewell  to  them  that  are  at  my  house  "  (verse 
61).     But   the   Master   responds   that   one   who    is 


THE  LUEE  OF  COMPEOMISE  247 

not  prepared  to  subordinate  social  fashions  and 
amenities  to  spiritual  claims  is  "  not  fit  for  the  king- 
dom of  God/'  And  when  the  rich  young  moralist 
came  to  ask  eager  questions,  "  Jesus  said  unto  him,  If 
thou  wouldest  be  perfect,  go,  sell  that  thou  hast 
...  and  come,  follow  Me"  (Matt.  19:21). 
When  the  rights  of  property  violate  the  Christian  con- 
science, they  must  be  renounced.  So,  in  all  the 
Epistles,  the  Churches  are  warned  that  salvation  was 
to  be  secured  not  by  any  shrewd  opportunism,  or 
adroit  trimming  for  secular  safety  or  gain,  but  by  a 
readiness  to  renounce  every  material  and  social  ad- 
vantage that  came  into  collision  with  the  faith  and  fel- 
lowship of  Christ.  Not  a  nod  in  the  house  of  Rim- 
mon;  not  the  casting  of  a  grain  of  incense  on  the 
altar  of  Mammon.  John  Bunyan  shocks  us  with  the 
spectacle  of  The  Man  in  the  Iron  Cage;  but  Demas  in 
a  cage  of  gold  is  not  less  appalling;  and  Christianity 
is  jealous  lest  any  quality  of  the  soul,  in  any  degree, 
should  be  lost  through  complicity  with  the  treasures, 
honors,  and  glory  of  the  world. 

2.  Our  Lord's  words  are  a  warning  against  any 
attempt  to  effect  an  accommodation  between  the  flesh 
and  the  spirit.  In  the  early  age  of  the  Christian 
Church  there  was  manifest  a  strong  disposition  to 
combine  with  the  Christian  profession  a  certain  tolera- 
tion for  pagan  indulgence.  St.  Paul  detected  this  in 
the  Church  in  Corinth,  and  solemnly  warns  the  breth- 
ren against  the  seductive  tendency.  We  have  seen  how 
Herod  the  Great  attempted  to  combine  Judaism  with 
heathenism;  so  in  the  beginning  of  the  second  century 
the  Emperor  Hadrian  sought  to  reconcile  Christianity 
and  heathenism.  He  attempted  to  incorporate  Chris- 
tianity into  that  great  amalgam  of  various  doctrines 


248  THE  LUKE  OF  COMPEOMISE 

and  rites  which  constituted  at  that  time  the  Roman  re- 
ligion. For  this  purpose  he  wished  to  do  honor,  in  his 
own  way,  to  the  places  sacred  to  the  memory  of  Jesus ; 
he  thought  it  possible  to  combine  the  worship  of  Christ 
with  that  of  Adonis,  which  he  caused  to  be  celebrated 
at  Bethlehem.  He  erected  upon  the  Holy  Sepulchre 
an  image  of  Jupiter,  and  upon  Calvary  the  statue  of 
Venus.  In  various  ways  at  that  period,  and  for  vari- 
ous reasons,  the  experiment  was  made  of  fusing  the 
new  faith  with  the  old  superstition;  perhaps  the  most 
audacious  instance  of  the  heresy  being  this  combina- 
tion of  the  worship  of  Christ  with  that  of  Adonis  and 
the  erection  of  the  statue  of  Venus  upon  Calvary.  But 
the  attempt  to  satisfy  at  once  the  claims  of  religion  and 
the  lusts  of  the  flesh  is  often  being  made  in  more  re- 
fined ways.  Professor  J.  R.  Seeley  writes  of  Goethe; 
"  The  struggle  which  went  on  in  Goethe's  mind 
through  the  greater  part  of  his  life  between  two  forms 
of  religion;  between  Christian  ideas  from  which  he 
would  never  consent  to  part,  and  a  sort  of  Heathen- 
ism which  at  times  he  avowed  with  the  utmost  frank- 
ness." At  the  same  period  there  was  in  Germany  gen- 
erally a  disposition  to  blend  the  carnal  with  the  Chris- 
tian; some  doing  their  utmost  to  desecrate  the  holy, 
whilst  others  attempted  to  sanctify  the  unholy. 
France  has  supplied  the  notorious  cases  of  Chateau- 
briand, Sainte-Beuve,  Victor  Hugo,  and  others.  Un- 
happily such  anomalies  have  not  been  lacking  in  our 
own  country,  and  at  the  present  day  there  is  a  distinct 
movement  in  the  same  direction.  Once  more  the  wor- 
ship of  the  beautiful  Adonis  in  the  birthplace  of  the 
Saviour,  and  the  image  of  lust  honored  on  Mount 
Calvary!  Christian  ideas  united  with  the  immorali- 
ties of  idolatry !    We  are  to  retain  our  Christian  ideas, 


THE  LUKE  OF  COMPKOMISE  249 

but  not  in  the  spirit  of  a  narrow  and  sour  Puritanism 
which  fails  to  do  justice  to  the  flesh;  we  want  a 
broader  culture,  one  to  minister  at  once  to  the  sensual 
and  the  spiritual. 

With  what  an  intense  insistence  does  the  New  Testa- 
ment condemn  the  adulterous  compact!  It  takes  over 
the  denunciations  of  the  Old  Testament  against  yield- 
ing an  iota  to  the  spirit  of  license,  and  emphasizes 
them  unsparingly.  The  Christian  Church  found  itself 
in  the  midst  of  an  utterly  corrupt  state  of  society,  men- 
aced at  every  possible  point  by  foulness,  and  it  was 
taught  to  shrink  from  the  contact  as  from  the  touch 
of  a  leper.  "  Come  ye  out  from  among  them,  and  be 
ye  separate,  saith  the  Lord,  and  touch  no  unclean 
thing"  (3  Cor.  6:  17).  Not  a  petal  of  its  voluptuous 
roses,  not  a  sip  of  the  wine  of  its  fornication,  not  a 
leaf  of  its  gay  garlands,  not  an  echo  of  its  siren  music 
and  song ;  "  hating  the  garment  spotted  by  the  flesh  '* 
even  when  it  is  the  fine  needlework  and  wrought  gold 
of  skilfullest  art.  The  sweet,  pure,  true  life  of  the 
Christian  saint  is  an  eternity  away  from  the  stained 
pleasure  of  paganism,  however  artfully  it  may  be  dis- 
guised. The  celebration  of  the  worship  of  Adonis  and 
that  of  Christ,  the  reconciliation  of  Venus  and  the 
Crucified  will  be  consummated  on  the  day  that  heaven 
and  hell  are  reconciled.  Until  that  day  we  must  ab- 
stain from  "  the  cup  of  devils,"  however  its  brim  may 
be  gilded  or  its  wine  sparkle. 

3.  Our  text  is  a  warning  against  the  attempt  to 
combine  faith  in  Christ  with  alien  creeds.  Our  Lord 
demanded  confidence  in  Himself  and  in  His  teaching, 
as  no  other  teacher  ever  did;  confidence  in  Himself 
before  all  others,  and  to  the  exclusion  of  all  others. 
"  Ye  believe  in  God,  believe  also  in  Me  "  (John  14:  1). 


260  THE  LUKE  OF  COMPKOMISE 

When  in  our  text  He  condemns  the  leaven  of  Herod, 
the  impHcation  is  that  He  knew  Himself  to  be  the 
Truth,  the  Life,  and  the  Way;  and  His  words  are  a 
warning  against  seeking  any  doctrine  of  salvation  out 
of  Himself.  The  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  is  a  great 
argument  against  leaning  partly  on  Christ  and  partly 
on  other  authority.  Precious  as  the  Old  Testament 
and  the  system  of  worship  it  enjoined  were  to  the 
Jews,  they  were  now  called  upon  to  put  an  absolute 
faith  in  Him  who  fulfilled  the  law  and  the  prophets, 
and  in  that  spiritual  dispensation  which  He  came  to 
establish.  The  Christian  Jews  felt  the  extreme  diffi- 
culty of  cutting  themselves  entirely  free  from  the  an- 
cient worship  and  associations,  but  the  design  of  the 
Epistle  is  to  convince  them  that  their  salvation  was 
secure  only  as  Ihey  did  this;  only  then  were  they 
founded  on  the  rock.  The  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  is 
a  special  admonition  to  the  Christian  Church  in  all 
generations  to  refrain  from  allying  its  faith  with  alien 
creeds,  even  the  very  best  of  them.  "  For  other  foun- 
dation can  no  man  lay  than  that  which  is  laid,  which 
is  Jesus  Christ "  (1  Cor.  3:  11). 

Yet  in  successive  ages  the  temptation  has  proved 
irresistible,  and  the  Christian  theologian  again  and 
again  has  damaged  the  faith  he  sought  to  serve  by 
alloying,  in  the  name  of  catholicity,  the  pure  gold  with 
some  base  admixture  of  alien  philosophy  and  religion. 
The  temptation  has  been  renewed  in  our  day  with 
special  force,  in  consequence  of  the  opening  up  to  us 
of  the  sacred  writings  of  the  nations;  the  attempt  is 
being  made  continually  to  challenge  the  uniqueness  and 
supremacy  of  Christian  truth,  and  to  give  the  ethnic 
scriptures  at  least  equal  rank  with  the  Bible.  In  A 
Journey  to  Java  the  traveller  tells  how  "  the  little  chil- 


THE  LUEE  OF  COMPKOMISE  251 

dren  brought  us  large  bunches  of  the  water-lily  and 
other  flowers.  Some  posies  were  apparently  composed 
of  a  remarkable  and  variegated  flower  that  we  had 
not  seen  before.  Not  until  we  had  bought  and  ex- 
amined them  closely  did  we  discover  that  this  many- 
hued  flower  was  in  reality  a  number  of  detached  petals 
from  various  flowers  so  cleverly  fastened  together  that 
the  collection  appeared  as  one  unusual  flower."  This 
faked  flower  reminds  us  of  the  eclectic  creed  of  many 
people  to-day.  It  is  constructed  from  divers  sources, 
some  portions  being  petals  from  scriptural  plants  of 
truth  and  grace,  cunningly  combined  with  other  ele- 
ments gathered  from  the  wild  flowers  of  the  jungle 
and  the  wilderness. 

There  is  no  reason  why  we  should  not  recognize 
and  give  full  value  to  truth  wherever  it  may  be  found ; 
yet  it  must  never  be  forgotten  that  "  the  saving  knowl- 
edge of  Christ "  stands  alone  in  its  majestic  authority 
and  sufficiency.  With  the  virtues  of  the  Plant  of  Re- 
nown for  our  healing  and  joy  we  need  no  resort  to 
artificial  combinations.  With  what  jealousy  did  the 
apostles  guard  this  truth!  St.  Peter  at  the  beginning 
of  the  ministry,  "  And  in  none  other  is  there  salvation: 
for  neither  is  there  any  other  name  under  heaven,  that 
is  given  among  men,  wherein  we  must  be  saved " 
(Acts  4:  12).  And  St.  John  at  the  close  of  the 
apostolical  period  vehemently  contended  for  the  intol- 
erance of  the  gospel.  Directly  contrary  to  the  catho- 
licity of  the  Roman  who  was  prepared  to  give  a  place 
to  all  the  gods  of  the  nations  in  his  Pantheon,  the 
Church  of  Christ  insisted  on  His  sovereignty,  and 
would  tolerate  none  other  by  His  side.  He  is  the  sole 
author  of  our  salvation,  saving  to  the  uttermost,  and 
it  is  impious  to  associate  any  name  with  His.    "  Simon 


252  THE  LUKE  OF  COMPKOMISE 

Peter  answered  Him,  Lord,  to  whom  shall  we  go? 
Thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life  "  (John  6:  68). 

II.  The  justice  and  need  of  the  warning  note  of 
the  text  remain  for  consideration.  The  temper  of 
compromise  is  never  thoroughly  approved  in  any 
sphere ;  it  is  often  allowed  with  a  view  of  relieving  em- 
barrassing situations,  but  a  readiness  to  agree  to  com- 
promise is  ever  felt  to  be  an  imperfection.  It  suggests 
that  the  parties  concerned  are  without  convictions;  or 
that  having  convictions,  they  are  lacking  in  principle; 
or  that  they  are  deficient  in  the  necessary  moral 
strength  and  courage  to  assert  themselves;  it  argues 
more  or  less  of  uncertainty,  insincerity,  inconsistency, 
irresolution,  impotence.  In  certain  circumstances  con- 
cessions for  the  sake  of  peace  and  progress  may  be 
legitimate  and  even  praiseworthy,  but  as  a  grand  rule 
temporizing,  expediency,  opportunism  are  righteously 
suspected.  As  a  distinguished  writer  affirms,  "  When 
compromise  broadens,  intellect  and  conscience  are 
thrust  into  narrower  room." 

It  is  said  that  compromise  is  "  the  essence  of  poli- 
tics *' ;  but  that  is  in  consequence  of  so  many  political 
discussions  relating  to  method  rather  than  to  principle. 
The  advocates  of  rival  schemes  are  agreed  on  the  end 
proposed,  but  differ  in  judgment  as  to  the  best  means 
for  effecting  it ;  it  is  a  question  of  opinion  rather  than 
of  conscience,  and  room  is  left  for  mutual  concession 
without  sinister  implications.  But  even  in  this  realm 
it  is  not  long  before  questions  emerge  of  fundamental 
right  and  wrong,  and  the  statesman  who  now  mani- 
fests a  facile  complacency  becomes  forthwith  an  object 
of  suspicion  and  scorn.  "  Compromises  have  never 
been  favored  by  men  of  science,"  declares  one  of  their 
historians.    For  example,  when  rival  theories  as  to  the 


THE  LUKE  OF  COMPEOMISE  253 

nature  of  light  are  in  the  field,  the  scientist  must  decide 
for  the  corpuscular  or  the  undulatory.  There  is  no 
logical  standing  ground  between  the  two ;  they  cannot 
be  combined;  there  is  no  room  for  compromise.  So 
with  other  theories  concerning  Nature,  they  are  mutu- 
ally exclusive;  it  is  impossible  to  hold  more  than  one. 
It  is  much  the  same  with  philosophy.  The  greatest 
thinkers  maintain  that  a  selection  and  combination 
from  conflicting  schemes  of  thought  is  no  philosophy 
at  all;  just  as  the  faked  flower  of  the  Japanese  was  no 
flower  at  all.  The  true  philosopher  regards  the  uni- 
verse as  a  great  organic  whole,  a  unity,  with  one  un- 
derlying cause,  pervaded  by  one  spirit,  obeying  one 
law,  possessing  one  character,  directed  to  one  goal. 
And  as  he  gives  the  whole  of  things  a  spiritualistic  or 
materialistic,  a  religious  or  deistic,  an  optimistic  or  a 
pessimistic  interpretation,  he  must  abide  by  his  de- 
cision and  be  ranked  accordingly,  whilst  all  his  views 
of  nature,  humanity,  and  life  take  one  color.  If  he 
attempts  to  borrow  now  from  one  school,  and  now 
from  another,  his  orthodox  brethren  might  reproach 
him  in  the  words  of  the  great  poet: 

Thou  hast  no  faith  left  now,  unless  thou  hadst  two, 
And  that's  far  worse  than  none ;  better  have  none 
Than  plural  faith,  which  is  too  much  by  one. 

How  entirely  reasonable,  then,  is  the  faith  of  Christ 
in  demanding  an  implicit  trust,  a  whole-hearted  loy- 
alty! The  most  divided  counsels  of  parliaments  are 
not  without  their  points  of  agreement;  when  we  re- 
member the  doctrines  of  the  convertibility  of  forces, 
the  transmutations  of  metals,  the  mutations  of  plants 
and  animals,  it  is  felt  that  at  bottom  the  most  incon- 
gruous theories  of  science  have  a  secret  kinship;  and 


254  THE  LUKE  OF  COMPROMISE 

in  the  most  discordant  systems  of  philosophy  the 
eclectic  discovers  correspondences  and  affinities  not  to 
be  denied.  But  between  the  godly  and  the  godless  life, 
between  the  spirit  of  Christ  and  the  spirit  of  the  world, 
between  the  mind  of  the  spirit  and  the  mind  of  the 
flesh,  between  the  ideals  of  the  temporal  and  the  eter- 
nal is  a  total,  absolute,  eternal  antagonism.  Moral  good 
and  evil  are  not,  as  some  vainly  teach,  the  two  sides 
of  one  thing,  but  two  principles  between  which  a  great 
bridgeless  gulf  is  fixed;  and  our  attitude  to  the  Lord 
Jesus  determines  the  principle  of  our  choice,  and  on 
which  side  of  the  gulf  lies  our  destiny.  "  He  that  hath 
the  Son  hath  the  life ;  he  that  hath  not  the  Son  of  God 
hath  not  the  Hfe  ''  (1  John  5:  12). 

*'  Beware  of  the  leaven  of  Herod  " !  We  ever  need 
this  admonition  in  seeking  the  development  of  the 
kingdom  of  God.  Some  suppose  that  in  his  flattery 
of  the  Romans,  Herod  thought  he  saw  the  chance  of 
Rome  helping  the  national  aspiration;  but  if  this  were 
so,  we  know  how  profoundly  he  was  deceived.  In  the 
end  the  Herods  destroyed  themselves  and  the  nation 
whose  affairs  they  administered.  We  may  well  be 
warned  against  their  example.  Renan,  in  his  famous 
misnamed  fable,  The  Life  of  Jesus,  instructs  us,  "  To 
conceive  the  good,  in  fact,  is  not  sufficient ;  it  must  be 
made  to  succeed  amongst  men.  To  accomplish  this, 
less  pure  paths  must  be  followed.'*  And  he  proceeds 
to  inform  us  that  in  order  to  make  His  work  succeed 
"  Jesus  compromised  it ;  for  every  movement,  in  order 
to  triumph,  must  make  sacrifices ;  we  never  come  from 
the  contest  of  life  unscathed."  Precisely  what  our 
Lord  did  not  do.  He  never  reduced  His  lofty  claim, 
never  adulterated  His  pure  doctrine,  never  followed  a 
devious  path  for  the  sake  of  popularity.    His  Cross  is 


THE  LUKE  OF  COMPKOMISE  255 

the  eternal  condemnation  of  moral  compromise,  and 
He  can  wait  for  millennia  for  the  triumph  of  His  king- 
dom. The  Church  gains  nothing  by  softening  the 
truth  with  which  she  has  been  entrusted,  by  lowering 
her  standards,  or  by  relaxing  her  discipline ;  she  stands 
for  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  and  its  integrity  is  the 
condition  of  her  triumph.  Not  for  the  praise  of  broad- 
mindedness,  not  for  the  temptation  of  an  accelerated 
progress,  not  to  escape  laboriousness  and  sacrifice, 
must  we  accept  comprehension  by  dubious  concession 
and  adjustment.  On  matters  that  are  secondary  and 
relative  there  is  room  for  political  and  ecclesiastical 
statesmanship,  but  not  when  the  obligations  of  faith, 
spirituality,  purity,  and  righteousness  are  involved. 
"  My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world  "  is  a  declaration  of 
the  Lord,  that  ought  to  be  a  guiding  star  to  His  people 
in  all  generations.  It  will  be  sweeter  to  perish  with 
Him  than  to  gain  a  fugitive  triumph  by  merging  the 
kingdom  of  God  in  the  kingdoms  of  this  world.  As 
Joseph  Cook  once  wrote,  "  When  Christianity  comes 
into  collision  with  wrong,  evil,  and  not  Christianity, 
is  to  compromise." 

"  Beware  of  the  leaven  of  Herod  " !  Individually 
we  must  heed  this  warning.  What  have  we  to  gain 
by  any  temporizing,  even  the  mildest?  What  by  nib- 
bling at  the  creed  to  pacify  the  critical,  after  we  have 
proved  the  sweetness  and  power  of  the  faith  in  our 
own  experience?  What  by  relaxing  our  personal  dis- 
cipline for  an  indulgence  of  the  flesh,  some  mess  of 
pottage,  which  gratifies  for  the  moment?  What  by 
gaining  worldly  advantage  in  things  that  perish  in  the 
using?  We  know  that  we  are  only  losers  by  such 
negotiations.  And,  then,  there  will  always  be  the 
anxious  thought  as  to  the  end  of  the  working  of  the 


256  THE  LUEE  OF  COMPKOMISE 

unwholesome  leaven,  for  its  tendency  is  to  leaven  the 
whole  lump.  Minute  admixtures  may  improve  iron 
and  steel,  but  the  addition  to  gold  of  one  five-hun- 
dredth part  by  weight  of  bismuth  produces  an  alloy 
which  crumbles  under  the  die  and  refuses  to  take  an 
impression.  If  we  are  to  receive  and  retain  the  image 
of  the  King,  the  gold  must  be  pure.  Full  consecration 
to  God  is  the  secret  of  perfect  peace ;  it  commands  the 
conquering  power;  it  is  the  condition  of  absolute  and 
final  safety ;  whilst  a  wavering  life  implies  distraction, 
impotence,  insecurity,  disaster.  Oh,  how  easy,  happy, 
victorious,  fruitful  is  the  decided  life!  How  trium- 
phant its  end !  We  are  right  only  when  our  noble  soul 
is  surrendered  to  Him  who  loved  us  and  gave  Himself 
for  us,  and  when  our  life  in  its  entirety  is  separated 
to  His  service.  "  Whom  have  I  in  heaven  but  Thee  ? 
and  there  is  none  upon  earth  that  I  desire  beside  Thee. 
My  flesh  and  my  heart  faileth:  but  God  is  the  strength 
of  my  heart  and  my  portion  for  ever'*  (Ps.  73;  25, 
26). 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


Date  Due 

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